Brockton man gets 3 years for violent New Bedford drug deal turned home invasion

Namu Sampath, The Enterprise
·2 min read
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FALL RIVER — A 29-year-old Brockton man was sentenced to serve three years in prison for violently assaulting and robbing his marijuana dealer in New Bedford in 2020, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Abriel Martinez pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to charges of armed robbery, armed assault in a dwelling and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

He was sentenced last week to three years in prison followed by two additional years of supervised probation, according to a written statement from the DA's office.

“This is another example of the type of violent conduct that too often occurs in our urban areas, usually centered around drugs,” Quinn said. “I am glad the defendant is being held accountable for his violent conduct."

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What happened?

On Jan. 27, 2020, Martinez, along with two other unidentified men, entered the victim's New Bedford apartment to purchase THC products from him, the written statement from Quinn's office said. Once inside, they struck the victim in the face with a gun and robbed him of his wallet and money.

Court records said the victim, who at the time was 37 years old, said he was left with serious injuries — including a fractured jaw, nasal, sinus and orbital fractures, and bruising and cuts from the assault after a knife was held to the side of his head.

Martinez and the victim had known each other for five years, and Martinez had last visited the victim a month prior the home invasion, just before Christmas in 2019, court records said.

The victim was taken to the hospital by a friend, at which point a police officer on duty was notified by the friend about the assault. The victim was able to identify this defendant from prior interactions, but did not know who the other two people were, we reported.

The case initially went to trial last October, but the case resulted in a hung jury.

Staff writer Namu Sampath can be reached at nsampath@enterprisenews.com, or you can follow her on Twitter @namusampath. Thank you, subscribers. You make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton: Abriel Martinez sentenced for 2020 New Bedford assault