Fostoria man gets 15 years after drugs found in raid

10/19/2004

TIFFIN - A Fostoria man was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison after being convicted of multiple drug felonies stemming from Seneca County's largest seizure of marijuana.

Juan M. Martinez, Jr., 32, was sentenced by Judge Michael Kelbley of Seneca County Common Pleas Court to eight years in prison for possession of marijuana in an amount greater than 20,000 grams and seven years for possession of cocaine in an amount greater than 100 grams. Both charges are second-degree felonies, and Judge Kelbley agreed with a request from county Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr., that the sentences be served consecutively.

Police executing a search warrant at Martinez's home on April 10, 2003, found 48 pounds of marijuana bundled in a freezer, plus 12 pounds of marijuana and the cocaine in a car parked in his driveway.

At yesterday's sentencing, Judge Kelbley ordered Martinez to forfeit the freezer, a firearm found in the home, and more than $2,500 seized during the raid.

Alice V. Torres, 29, who lived with Martinez and testified against him, was previously convicted of two felony drug counts in the case and sentenced to eight years in prison.