A previously convicted Riverside County man was sentenced Friday to a dozen years behind bars for possessing methamphetamine and illegally possessing firearms and ammunition.
Alvaro Hector Martinez, 33, of Perris, pleaded guilty in June 2023 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to prosecutors, in February 2021, Martinez — acting at the direction of a Sinaloan drug trafficker — sold about two pounds of methamphetamine. During a traffic stop of Martinez the next month, law enforcement found 35 packages containing roughly 34 pounds of pure methamphetamine, which he intended to distribute, according to court papers.
Following the traffic stop, authorities searched a residence Martinez had been seen leaving with the drugs. Inside, they found five containers of methamphetamine weighing about 18.7 pounds, three firearms, and 38 rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.
Martinez admitted in his plea agreement to knowingly possessing the firearms and ammunition.
Martinez is not legally permitted to possess firearms or ammunition because of his criminal history, which includes felony convictions in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2014 for grand theft and possession of a firearm by a felon.