Lexington Couple Plead Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Sierra Monique Green, 24, and Martinus Shamar Watts, 31, both of Lexington, have pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, to conspiring with others to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury. 

According to court records, including Green’s plea agreement, from March 2019 until September 2019, Martinus Watts, Green, , and Karmon Jamel Watts, 26, conspired to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Additionally, on March 20, 2019, Martinus Watts and Green delivered approximately one-half gram of fentanyl to a victim. The victim ingested a portion of the substance and lost consciousness. First responders arrived shortly thereafter to find the victim not breathing. After administering several doses of Narcan, the victim was revived, received medical treatment and survived the overdose.

On June 20, 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence shared by Martinus Watts and Green. Officers located $67,000 in U.S. currency, 2 loaded firearms, and various controlled substances. In their plea agreements, both Watts and Green admitted that the currency was the proceeds of their drug trafficking activity.

Martinus Watts pleaded guilty in August 2020, and Green entered her guilty plea yesterday. Karmon Jamel Watts pleaded guilty in May 2020.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jeffrey Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Louisville Field Division; and Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by the DEA and Lexington Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Todd Bradbury.   

Martinus Shamar Watts is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19, 2020. Green is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30, 2020. Each face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison for the crime of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, and a mandatory minimum of 5 years for the conspiracy to distribute fentanyl charge. Karmon Watts faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years imprisonment for the fentanyl conspiracy. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court, after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

This case was prosecuted as part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), a focused enforcement effort that seeks to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas.

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