Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 12½ Years for Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Ariel Martinez, 32, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced today in U.S. District by Judge D. Brock Hornby to 12½ years in prison and three years of supervised release for possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.  Martinez pleaded guilty on February 19, 2019.

Court records reveal that on November 21, 2017, state law enforcement agents went to a Brunswick, Maine residence to investigate a suspected drug overdose death. The investigation revealed that the decedent obtained fentanyl from a Massachusetts dealer and how to contact that dealer.  The next day, an agent, acting in an undercover capacity, placed an order for 20 grams of fentanyl with that dealer for delivery the next day at a designated time and Brunswick location.  Agents stopped a vehicle with Massachusetts plates that arrived at the designated time and location.  The defendant was a passenger in the vehicle and admitted to having fentanyl in his shoe and pants. Agents seized about 19 grams of fentanyl from the defendant.

The investigation was conducted by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the Brunswick, Bath and Rockland Police Departments; and the Sagadahoc and Knox County Sheriff’s Offices.  This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.