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Cocaine conviction nets 30 years

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

A 21-year-old Atlanta man convicted of peddling four kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of $31.5 million in Fayette County was ordered Tuesday to spend 30 years in prison and pay a $1 million fine.

After two days of testimony in the case of Jackson Martinez — the man accused of trafficking over four kilos of cocaine in the county — 12 jurors found Martinez guilty of the crime.

In turn, Griffin Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Tommy Hankinson ordered Martinez to spend the next three decades in prison and fork over the hefty fine.

Griffin Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Warren Sellers, the former Fayetteville City Solicitor, prosecuted the case.

The Martinez case was the first and only major case tried during the May term of the Superior Court.

Martinez was the third defendent tried in the case that stemmed from a July 30, 2004, incident that occurred on Pine Trail Road near Fayette Pavilion.

In March, Martinez’s co-defendants, Efrain Oliveres, 27, of Running Fox Trail, Norcross; and Roberto Camacho, 27, of Monfort Street, Lawrenceville, were convicted in connection with the case.

The men were caught during an undercover sting operation that injured two deputies and damaged three vehicles. Oliveres and Camacho were ordered to serve 45 years in prison and pay a $1 million fine.

Griffin Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Johnnie Caldwell Jr. presided over the Oliveres and Camacho case.

During their trials, the men were alleged to be carrying drugs that had an estimated street value of $31,537,360, Caldwell said.

Caldwell said 31,537 hits could have been produced out of the packs.

Sellers prosecuted all three cases and won three convictions. He was humbled by the outcome.

“I’m really thankful that the special agents and the deputy sheriffs risked their lives to stop the vehicle this defendent was driving in to take that large quantity of drugs off the streets,” Sellers said.