PORTLAND — A federal judge told a Lewiston man Wednesday his “very impressive” turnaround from alcoholic and drug dealer to reliable worker and family provider was the reason he didn’t put him behind bars for dealing crack cocaine.
Julien Martinez, 43, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of distribution of cocaine base, each charge a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock Jr. sentenced Martinez on Wednesday to the six days he spent in jail after his arrest July 28, 2021.
Martinez will be on supervised release for three years, during which he will be barred from having alcohol and illegal drugs for which he will be tested and may be searched if his supervisor suspects he has violated those conditions.
Federal investigators said one of Martinez’s fellow inmates at Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn told federal agents that Martinez reached out to him after his release asking whether he wanted to buy crack cocaine.
At the instruction of agents, the former inmate called Martinez on Feb. 25, 2019, to set up a purchase of crack cocaine.
The next day, the former inmate drove to Bartlett Street in Lewiston and went into Martinez’s home. He came out with a bag that appeared to be crack, according to an affidavit filed in court papers.
The former inmate had been given money and was equipped with an electronic audio and video recording device.
The former inmate, called by agents CI, which stands for cooperating individual, paid Martinez for the drugs.
The drugs later tested positive for crack cocaine.
On March 25, 2019, the former inmate made another purchase of crack from Martinez.
Martinez, who has an eighth grade education, had his attorney, Michael Whipple, read a statement from him.
He apologized to the judge and said that, if given a second chance, he would prove he can be a law-abiding citizen.
Whipple told the judge his client had a “horrific childhood” that began in New Jersey where his parents were “junkies,” according to Martinez.
His father had taken Martinez and his brother to an abandoned building to buy drugs and left them there when he was arrested.
The two boys were adopted by their aunt.
When Martinez was 15, his brother was murdered.
A year later, his aunt died.
That’s when Martinez began drinking, becoming an alcoholic.
He dropped out of high school after one week.
Martinez has fathered six daughters with four different women, but for the past four years has been with his current girlfriend, Judge Woodcock noted.
Since his arrest on the current charges, he has been on supervised release, holding down a job at an Auburn restaurant where his girlfriend works, Woodcock said.
Martinez has reconnected with his youngest daughter and stopped drinking. His tests since his release have all come back negative, Woodcock said.
Despite a lengthy criminal history fueled by alcohol and includes drug trafficking, three convictions for drunken driving and stabbing his best friend in the stomach, Martinez appears to be on the right path and for the first time in his life has a steady job, a supportive girlfriend and sobriety, Woodcock said.
Martinez has “shown discipline and determination to defeat his alcoholism,” a feat Woodcock called “very impressive.”
Woodcock told Martinez that selling a highly addictive drug, such as crack cocaine only for the profit — Martinez was not a user — confounded him because he had seen firsthand the destructive nature of the drug and its effect on the children of those addicted to the drug.
“What you did is not just wrong, it’s harmful,” Woodcock said.
But, he told Martinez, “I think you’ve reached the end of the road in your criminal behavior.”
Woodcock said, “You’ve chosen to do things the right way, finally.”
Then the judge cautioned Martinez about the perils of backsliding.
“You don’t want to see me again,” he said. If Martinez ends up back in court, Woodcock said, “I’m going to be angry.”
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