Francisco Martinez, 23, was found guilty of selling a firearm to a person intending to use it in drug trafficking crimes and possessing a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. (Smith County Jail)

From Staff Reports

A Tyler man was convicted this week of federal firearms violations in the Eastern District of Texas, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin Jr. announced Thursday.

A jury found Francisco “Cisco” Martinez, 23, guilty of selling a firearm to a person intending to use it in drug trafficking crimes and possessing a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The verdict was reached March 4 following a trial before U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle.

“This verdict continues to demonstrate how relentless the Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office and its FBI and ATF partners will work to combat violent crime,” McGlothin said in a release. “As promised, my office and our law enforcement partners will find drug and illicit gun dealers and take them off the streets.”

Martinez was known to law enforcement as a black-market source of firearms in Tyler. While conducting a drug trafficking investigation, authorities located Martinez accompanying a known cocaine dealer to a drug purchase in a grocery store parking lot. Martinez provided an AK-47 firearm as part of the drug transaction.

“Every family should have the opportunity to live in a safe community,” said Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “Along with our law enforcement partners, we remain firmly committed to providing protection for the residents in our area of responsibility and to disrupting and dismantling threats that endanger our neighborhoods.”

Martinez was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 18, 2023. He faces up to life in federal prison at sentencing.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

“As the old adage goes, guns and drugs just don’t mix. Unfortunately for Mr. Martinez, he has found this out the hard way,” stated ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II. “ATF’s priority will always be to keep our communities free of violent actors. This conviction does just that. I would like to thank all our partners who helped in this investigation and continue to keep East Texas safe.”

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Division – Tyler Resident Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Texas Department of Public Safety; and the Tyler Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Farahnak and Lucas Machicek.