Braulio Martinez Salazar, a 31-year-old resident of DeForest, Wisconsin, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for attempting to distribute cocaine. The sentence was handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson after Martinez Salazar pleaded guilty to the charge on December 16, 2024.
The investigation into Martinez Salazar began in late 2022 and early 2023 when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration started looking into a cocaine trafficking organization operating in the DeForest and Madison areas. Investigators used intercepted phone calls and surveillance to determine that Martinez Salazar was involved in picking up half a kilogram of cocaine on June 1, 2023, intended for delivery to a customer in Madison.
During his route to meet the customer, Martinez Salazar was stopped by a Dane County Sheriff’s deputy. A narcotics dog alerted officers to the presence of drugs in his car, leading them to discover the half kilogram of cocaine hidden inside. Authorities believe that the drug trafficking organization was distributing cocaine in kilogram quantities.
Judge Peterson considered Martinez Salazar's lack of criminal history or prior arrests but emphasized that his involvement in a significant drug conspiracy warranted a substantial sentence due to its impact on the community.
The charge against Martinez Salazar resulted from an investigation by multiple agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Dane County Narcotics Task Force, and Madison Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Anderson and William M. Levins prosecuted the case.
The investigation received support from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations across various agencies.
