A Memphis man was sentenced to 40 years in prison when the district court heard a contested hearing on May 5 in Hall County.
District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the case for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Dale Rabe, presiding.
Joe Martinez, 50, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the second degree felony offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Second degree felonies have a maximum punishment of 20 years. However, this felony was enhanced to a first degree, which can result in a maximum sentence of life in prison, due to Martinez’s prior felony convictions.Martinez, from Memphis, was arrested on December 25, 2017.
Martinez was originally placed on probation on April 27, 2022. The State filed a motion asking the Court to adjudicate Martinez’s probation on November 3, 2023, alleging five separate violations.
At the hearing, Martinez admitted to violating three of the five terms of his probation. One of which was that he committed a new offense, possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine.
On cross-examination, Martinez admitted that he had made a mistake and that he was selling the drugs he possessed while on probation.
At the conclusion, Rabe sentenced Martinez to the 40-year prison term.
Due to the nature of the offense, Martinez must serve at least half of the sentence before becoming parole eligible.
“As illustrated by this defendant, some people will never stop committing crimes,” said Caudle.
“We are very thankful that Judge Rabe handed down a sentence harsh enough that we will likely never have to deal with Joe Martinez again.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.