Sheriff Raymond Martin once pulled his service revolver from its holster and pointed it at his drug-dealing partner, warning the man there was no “getting out” of their relationship, a criminal complaint against Martin alleges.
We told you earlier about how Martin, the sheriff in rural Gallatin County in southern Illinois, was arrested last May on drug and gun charges for allegedly dealing marijuana that had been confiscated by police.
Martin and his wife and son were charged Monday with murder-for-hire, reportedly for targeting witnesses who are going to testify against Martin. While the details of the alleged murder plot have not been released, we’ve now dug into the original drug complaint against the sheriff.
It makes for rich reading.
In the incident in which Martin allegedly pulled the gun on his partner, the sheriff said it would be “that easy” to get rid of the man. His partner later became a confidential DEA source.
Martin allegedly asked for $1,000 per pound of pot, paid to him after his partner sold the drugs. The two men split any profits past the $1,000 threshold. Here’s some more detail on how the operation worked:
The C/S [confidential source] further stated that from approximately November 2008 until April 8, 2009, Martin delivered one or two pound quantities of marijuana to the C/S on the average of one time every two weeks. On two additional occasions, Martin delivered approximately ten pounds of marijuana and on another occasion delivered approximately twenty pounds of marijuana to the C/S.
By our back-of-the-envelope calculations, that’s about 50 pounds of pot in all — or, in Martin’s code, 50 “cars.”
On those three occasions, Martin told the C/S to sell this marijuana for whatever amount the C/S could get out of it, stating that it was all profit, as Martin did not have anything invested in those quantities of marijuana. The C/S described the marijuana as brown and dried out appearing to be a year or more old. I know from my experience as a narcotics investigator that marijuana which has been stored in an evidence faciltity for al ong period of time would have the appearance described by the C/S. These deliveries of marijuana by Martin to the C/S usually occurred at a rural and remote location in southern Gallatin County.
On one recorded cell phone conversation arranged by the authorities, the source called Martin to ask about a deal, but Martin said he couldn’t talk because he was transporting a prisoner.
Martin also allegedly dabbled in marijuana cultivation, according to two meetings recorded by authorities:
Martin told the C/S that he can show the C/S where the C/S can get “some real good dirt” and stated that Martin is going to do the same thing while showing the C/S the bags Martin will use to put the dirt in. These bags where located in Martin’s sheriff’s department vehicle. …
Martin told the C/S that Martin had some marijuana plants started and described the unusual way in which those plants were growing and the possibility that the type of fertilizer Martin had used was the cause.
Here’s Martin describing his plan to intimidate what he allegedly called the “competition”:
Martin then told the C/S that there were other individuals selling marijuana in Gallatin County and that Martin was “gonna try and put the fear of God in him and see if we can get him out of the business.”
And here he is delivering a pep talk to his partner, the government source:
Martin stated that Martin would provide the C/S with larger quantities and told the C/S that it would be “silly” for the C/S to get drunk or use pills and “mess it up” because “we got a good thing going” and if it continued the C/S “won’t even have to work and stuff.”
Stay tuned — we’ll let you know when the government files its detailed complaint in the murder-for-hire case.
