News

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.”

The Adamson-Lane Post 287 of the American Legion in Hedley will hold its annual Memorial Day service at the Rowe Cemetery, Monday at 10:00 a.m. on May 28, 2024. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held at the Hedley Lions Club.

The Post members will place American Flags on the graves of 251 Veterans buried in the Rowe Cemetery. The Flags will be places on the graves at 9:00 AM, Saturday May 26, 2024 and remain till Monday, May 28, 2024 in honor of those departed comrades that have served this Country.

The Memorial Day program will be conducted by members of the American Legion that will include the raising of the colors, the National Anthem, Pledge to the Flag and the ceremony honoring the missing in action and the Prisoners of War still unaccounted for.

The Memorial Day address will be given by Dale A. Rabe, 100th Judicial District Judge. Carlton Turvaville will read the names of the 251 Veterans buried in the Rowe Cemetery. The program will be concluded with the laying of the memorial wreath and the playing of taps.

The Clarendon City Council adopted a new park curfew ordinance during their regular meeting last Thursday, May 9, at the Mulkey Theatre.

Following several acts of vandalism in recent months with damage done to the historic rock walls of Prospect Park, city officials felt it was necessary to take action to give law enforcement more tools to prevent further damage.

The ordinance which was unanimously approved sets a city park curfew from sunset to sunrise every day. No one is to be in a city park after dark.

Aldermen also approved a new rate schedule for the Citizens Convenience Center, commonly referred to as the recycling center. Those rates, which reflect a new fee item for non-resident use of the center, are published on page 7 of this week’s Enterprise.

Ken McIntosh was appointed to serve as Clarendon’s new representative to the Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority Board. Alderman Eulaine McIntosh abstained on that motion.

The council considered a bid from Windstream for high-speed internet service at several city sites. Without any other bids to compare, the board voted to reject the bid and try again to get more bids.

Alderman Tommy Hill took the oath of office to start his new term, and Mayor Jacob Fangman presented a proclamation to Sheriff Butch Blackburn recognizing May 10-16 as Peace Officers Week and May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

In his administrator’s report, Brian Barboza updated the council on personnel and preparations for the aquatic center’s upcoming season. He reported a new tanker was added to the fire department fleet and said water lines had been marked downtown as part of the next downtown revitalization project. Rap material has been received from TxDOT and will be used to improve Front Street, Barboza said, and plans are being discussed to host a NewsChannel 10 Summer Celebration here on July 15.

Two people are dead following a chase with the Donley County Sheriff’s Department and multiple law enforcement agencies last Friday, May 10.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said his office was notified by the Department of Public Safety about 2:35 that afternoon that a semi-truck being sought by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency was pinging at Allsup’s in Clarendon. Blackburn was further notified that the Putnam County, Tennessee, sheriff’s office had raided the home of the suspects and found drugs, weapons, and body armor.

The sheriff waited for the semi-truck to leave Allsup’s and then followed it up SH 70 towards Interstate 40 and then as DPS reinforcements closed in, Blackburn attempted to pull the truck over. The driver refused to stop and hit Blackburn’s patrol vehicle at one point, prompting law enforcement to take more aggressive measures. Gray County Deputies and a Texas Game Warden also joined the chase. The female truck passenger, later identified as 51-year-old Elizabeth Stevenson, began firing at officers. DPS spiked the truck’s front tires as it was headed west on I-40, the truck then turned around at the Pampa turn-off and headed back eastbound. Officers shot more tires, and a blockade was set up near the eastbound Safety Rest Area. Stevenson again began firing at officers. Gunfire was exchanged, and Stevenson was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver, 60-year-old Edward Stevenson, was transported to an Amarillo hospital, where he also later died from injuries received during the gunfire.

Blackburn said weapons and 29 kilos of cocaine were found in the truck. The day before, Putnam County detectives had found three-quarters of a pound of suspected methamphetamine, suspected fentanyl, multiple firearms, body armor, and ammunition inside the Stevensons’ home, according to a statement from that sheriff’s department. “Both individuals had also made previous statements that they would die by ‘suicide by cop’ if law enforcement attempted to stop them,” the statement said.

The street value of approximately 29 kilos of cocaine would equate to approximately $3.4 million, according to Putnam County officials. The drugs appeared to be headed to the Putnam County and Upper Cumberland area of Tennessee, and Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris praised the cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

“This was great work by the PCSO Drug Unit to take down a massive illegal drug operation here in Putnam County. This is a direct result of the nation’s open border policies which it much easier for Mexican cartel members and their associates to bring in these illegal drugs into smaller communities and in this case Putnam County,” Sheriff Farris said. “The cocaine would have likely been mixed with the deadly drug Fentanyl before being sold to individuals. The immediate working relationship with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office formed with the Donley County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety was invaluable in this incident, and I am very thankful for it.”

Following the chase and shootout, eastbound I-40 traffic was diverted through Clarendon until about 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning Blackburn said. The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident, and no officers were injured.