U.S. DISTRICT COURT—The saga of former Gallatin County sheriff is getting more and more bizarre.
Raymond Martin, as is common knowledge by now, has been brought back from federal detention in California and, family members report, he is being held in the federal penitentiary in Marion, pending a court hearing for resentencing set for November 29, 2012.
According to these same reliable sources, however, there was a little snafu upon Martin’s transit from California to Illinois.
“Dope?!? What dope? I don’t keep dope all up in there! and I don’t know no Bobby Drew!! Promise!”
The sources aren’t saying where, when or how, but the report to us is that Martin, when being taken from his California cell, was searched…and it was discovered that he had secreted a plastic bag up into his rectum. When the bag was opened, it was reportedly discovered to contain a small amount of cocaine, as well as some prescription pills for which he of course did not have a valid prescription.
According to the story, authorities went ahead and transported Martin anyway, since such a discovery wasn’t going to be something that was going to delay resentencing.
We’ve checked out the federal courts website, and have discovered NOTHING on there that would indicate such a thing has happened. Transit began at the end of October (ostensibly, it’s supposed to take 30 days to process a federal inmate from his present holding facility to a facility in the vicinity of where he is to be summonsed to court). If this incident took place, a date might in the future reflect such a thing; but for now, there’s just no entry on his public docket.
Dope in the federal prison system is not uncommon. Most readers will remember the incident with former Marion attorney Bobby Drew and his adventures with heroin in the federal prison system two years ago. But as far as anyone ever knew, Martin was never a doper. He reportedly didn’t even partake of his weed that he trafficked in Gallatin County for so many years. So this whole thing leads to speculation on three counts:
1—Someone got Martin hooked through the eyeball while in the federal prison system
2—The dope wasn’t really there, it just magically “appeared” when he was examined
3—The story is completely untrue.
We’ll likely find out soon. We’ll be at the federal resentencing Nov. 29, which has been set because the appeals court upstate determined that there was a federal judicial error in his sentencing in January 2011, which we’ve written about at length.
In other Martin news, Cody Martin, Raymond’s son, was sentenced in his Jackson County case that stemmed from his dad’s holding in that jail. Also dating back now nearly three years, Cody, charged with four counts of Solicitation to Commit Murder for Hire, was allowed to enter a plea today, Nov. 9, likely to a reduced charge. We’re hearing he received three months’ in jail (whether that’s straight, or is periodic [weekend] confinement is not clear), four years probation and a fine to be taken out of his bond money. When we get the details, we’ll update…or, look for the outcome–and more, hopefully, on Raymond—in the next print version, on stands and available on the e-Edition Nov. 15…get your renews in either by check or money order, or here on PayPal, or sign up for the e-Edition so you won’t miss a thing.