A Pulaski County man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to drug and firearms counts that could send him to prison for as long as 45 years or more when he is sentenced later this year.
Charles George W. Martin, 35, of Sherwood, was indicted in February on two counts each of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and felon in possession of a firearm. The charges stem from two arrests in late 2020 and early 2021 in Pulaski County.
According to Martin's plea agreement, he was pulled over Sept. 17, 2020, by Little Rock police for failing to yield to traffic while turning into the Meadows Crossing Apartments. The agreement said Martin was found to have an active arrest warrant and was shown to be a parolee who was on absconder status.
Martin locked his keys inside the truck as he exited, the document said, telling police they were not allowed to search it. After finding a plastic baggie with suspected methamphetamine and three used syringes in his pocket, police gained entry to the truck and found a plastic baggie containing approximately 69 grams of suspected methamphetamine, a Taurus .40 caliber pistol and drug paraphernalia.
On Jan. 16, 2021, the agreement said, Arkansas State Police stopped a black Chevrolet Yukon SUV on Interstate 630 at the Fair Park exit because of an expired license plate. A search of the vehicle turned up a Taurus Judge .45 Colt/.410 revolver, a backpack containing 84 grams of suspected methamphetamine -- some packaged individually -- a set of digital scales and plastic baggies.
In exchange for Martin's guilty plea on the two counts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Gardner made a motion to dismiss the remaining charges in the six-count indictment, which U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky granted.
On the drug count, Martin could be sentenced to a statutory range of five years to 40 years in prison, although under U.S. sentencing guidelines, which are only advisory, the recommendation will likely be far less. The firearm count carries a mandatory minimum five-year sentence with a maximum of life, to be served consecutively with any other sentence. He also could face a fine of up to $5 million.
Martin is currently serving time in the Arkansas Department of Corrections on a parole violation for a 2016 weapons conviction.
After he was brought into the courtroom Monday by federal marshals, his attorney, Lea Ellen Fowler, sat down with him and began going through legal documents requiring his signature.
After advising Martin that a guilty plea "is the strongest proof known to the law," and advising him of the rights he would be surrendering with his plea, Rudofsky explained the sentencing guidelines and the process by which an advisory sentence is calculated.
He also warned Martin that neither the guidelines nor his plea agreement would bind Rudofsky to a specific sentence or sentencing range, and that no one at that point could even tell him where the sentencing guidelines might land in terms of a recommended sentencing range.
"I have the power to vary your sentence above the guideline range all the way up to the statutory maximum, or below the guideline range all the way down to the statutory minimum," Rudofsky said. "Moreover ... the guidelines range calculation is an inherently complex and unpredictable business. If somebody has given you a guess or an estimate about what your guideline range might be, you need to take that with a huge grain of salt at this point."
Rudofsky also explained that in the federal system, there is no parole and Martin will be required to serve a minimum of 85% of any sentence he receives before being considered for early release for good behavior.
"Whatever sentence I give you, you will serve," the judge said.
After the plea facts were outlined, Gardner said Martin had agreed to a stipulation that he possessed at least 100 grams of methamphetamine, "for purposes of the plea."
Rudofsky questioned the charge of weapon possession based on Martin's apparent activities on the two occasions he was stopped, saying that while it was obvious Martin was transporting drugs, the judge wasn't certain his actions constituted trafficking at the times he was stopped.
"Having the gun at the same time the drugs were found, does that automatically mean he had the gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime?" the judge asked.
"As long as you can connect it to the drugs," Gardner answered.
"Unfortunately, yes," Fowler said when Rudofsky asked if she concurred.
Martin will be sentenced following completion of a pre-sentencing report by the U.S. Probation Office, a process that usually takes three to four months.