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Press Release

West Haven Woman Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Distributing Narcotics

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NATALI MARTINEZ, 30, formerly of West Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing narcotics.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at approximately 11:00 a.m. on July 4, 2015, an explosion took place on Wintergreen Avenue in Hamden.  Responding law enforcement located a deceased white male, who had been wrapped in plastic garbage bag material and bound by rope material, in a wooded area close to where the explosion had occurred.  An explosive-type device and debris were also located in close proximity to the body.  The victim, who had also sustained three apparent gunshot wounds, was subsequently identified as Edward Brooks, 39, of West Haven.

After West Haven Police informed investigators that Brooks had been residing at 59 Front Avenue in West Haven, and that the residents of 59 Front Avenue, including MARTINEZ, were subjects of an ongoing narcotics investigation, investigators executed a state narcotics search and seizure warrant at 59 Front Avenue and seized numerous items, including pipe bomb making materials that were consistent with the materials found at the Wintergreen Avenue explosion scene, approximately 16 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 10.6 grams of methamphetamine and narcotics packaging material.  Investigators also seized a surveillance DVR, which captured video surveillance from eight cameras placed around the residence.

MARTINEZ has been detained since her arrest on July 13, 2015.  On March 9, 2016, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”). 

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Connecticut State Police and West Haven Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vanessa Richards, Stephen Reynolds and Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.  This investigation and prosecution is being coordinated with the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Ansonia-Milford.

Updated July 21, 2016

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Violent Crime