Man who sold fentanyl laced cocaine sentenced to prison

James Mayse, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

An Owensboro man who was charged with selling cocaine laced with fentanyl, which led to five overdoses, was sentenced to six years in prison earlier this week in Daviess Circuit Court.

Jonathan Storm Martinez, 25, of the 100 block of Lakewood Drive, was charged earlier this month in connection with the April 8 incident, where five people were either transported by ambulance or driven separately to Owensboro Health after using cocaine at a party.

Sgt. Fred Coomes, head of the special investigations unit for the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, said investigators believe some at the party on Camden Circle contacted Martinez to come and sell them drugs.

Reports say, when responders were called to the scene, they found two people suffering from an overdose, including a woman who was unresponsive. Reports say responders administered CPR on the woman, and transported both her a second victim to the hospital.

Investigators found three other people who had also suffered overdoses and had been transported to the hospital by private vehicles, reports say.

Coomes said the woman who was found unresponsive recovered.

“Two of the individuals ended up in the hospital for two days,” Coomes said.

Investigators interviewed people at the party, and found “numerous witnesses” who identified Martinez as the person who sold the cocaine, Coomes said. The cocaine was tested at the Kentucky State Police laboratory, which confirmed fentanyl was mixed with the cocaine, Coomes said.

“We believe we identified who Marinez’s source was, and that individual was arrested in another jurisdiction for trafficking,” Coomes said.

Martinez entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (fentanyl), one count of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (cocaine) and misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and possessing drug paraphernalia.

The plea agreement calls for Martinez to serve five years for trafficking in fentanyl and one year for trafficking in cocaine, with the sentences to run consecutively for a total of six years. The misdemeanor charges will run concurrently with the trafficking sentences.