ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for possessing and distributing controlled substances and possessing a firearm illegally.
According to court documents, in November 2020, Mauricio Martinez, 22, was a drug dealer operating in Anchorage, selling illicit drugs via a social media platform. Law enforcement became aware that, on at least one occasion, the defendant carried a firearm while selling drugs. A federal grand jury indicted Martinez in August 2021 for distributing a controlled substance and for carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
In August 2022, law enforcement located the defendant driving a vehicle and attempted to arrest him, but he tried to flee and discard a firearm in the process. He was arrested, and officers found $4,000 in cash on his person and another firearm, roughly 10,000 counterfeit Xanax and Percocet pills, nearly 7,000 fentanyl tablets, and cocaine in his vehicle.
In June 2023, while Martinez was in the Anchorage jail awaiting trial, guards searched his cell and found a large knife and meth packaged for sale that he admitted were his.
Martinez pleaded guilty in September 2023.
“Mr. Martinez is a serious danger to the public and has shown a disregard for the law since he was a teenager, and even while he was incarcerated,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Keeping individuals like Mr. Martinez out of our communities is a priority for our office. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute individuals who pose a risk of public safety due to their actions.”
“Mr. Martinez utilized firearms while dealing deadly drugs, including illicit fentanyl, in our community,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “This sentencing sends a message that illegal drug distribution and violent criminal behavior will not be tolerated. The FBI will continue to work jointly with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who endanger the lives of Alaskans.”
The FBI Anchorage Field Office and Anchorage Police Department investigated the case as part of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bradley prosecuted the case.
