Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, has announced that Braulio Martinez Salazar from DeForest, Wisconsin, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for attempting to distribute cocaine. The sentencing was carried out by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson following Martinez Salazar's guilty plea on December 16, 2024.
The investigation into a cocaine trafficking organization operating in the DeForest and Madison area began in late 2022 and early 2023 by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators used intercepted phone calls and surveillance to determine that Martinez Salazar intended to deliver half a kilogram of cocaine on June 1, 2023, to a customer in Madison. He was stopped en route by a Dane County Sheriff’s deputy; during this stop, a narcotics dog alerted officers who then found the cocaine hidden in his car.
Judge Peterson considered Martinez Salazar’s lack of criminal history or prior arrests but noted his involvement in a significant drug conspiracy that impacted the community negatively. "Judge Peterson concluded that the quantity of drugs involved in the case warranted a significant sentence."
The investigation leading to this charge involved several 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 Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations across multiple agencies, conducted and funded this investigation.