United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Katina Maria Martinez, 48, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on September 9, 2020, by United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and for conspiracy to launder the proceeds from the drug conspiracy. Martinez received a sentence of 84 months’ imprisonment with a five-year term of supervised release to follow. There is no parole in the federal system.
In mid-2017, a Drug Enforcement Administration-led task force initiated Operation Dog Pound, which was a drug interdiction effort focused on an Omaha, Nebraska, drug trafficking organization. Martinez was identified during the investigation as someone closely associated with the head of the organization, Keevan Dean. Martinez would often accompany Dean when he would distribute pound quantities of methamphetamine and was responsible for packaging the methamphetamine. Martinez personally delivered smaller quantities of methamphetamine and collected money. Martinez would also deposit money into the bank accounts provided by the California source for the methamphetamine at the direction of Dean. On Nov. 12, 2018, Martinez was stopped in Arizona returning from California and was in possession of 10 pounds of methamphetamine. Investigators utilized phone and text messaging intercepts, vehicle trackers, and physical surveillance to establish Martinez’s involvement in the conspiracy.
Dean was convicted for drug and money laundering conspiracies and is set for sentencing on Nov. 18, 2020.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Nebraska State Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Omaha Police Department, Bellevue Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
