The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Carl Martin, 37, of Colchester, Vermont, was convicted on five of six counts on June 10, 2022, in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont, following a five-day jury trial before United States District Judge William K. Sessions III.
In October 2020, Martin was charged in a multi-count federal grand jury indictment with participating in a conspiracy to sell cocaine from Fall 2018 to October 23, 2019, selling cocaine to an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on four occasions in late 2019, and during one of those drug distributions, trading cocaine for a semiautomatic pistol. According to court records and proceedings, the drug undercover investigation resulting in the charges here followed an earlier investigation into Martin’s involvement in a shooting that occurred in front of Nectar’s, a restaurant in Burlington, in February 2018. The shooter in that incident, Rashad Nashid, was sentenced to 12 ½ years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of illegal firearm possession.
On June 10, 2022, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on five of six counts. The jury found Martin guilty on all counts except the count charging Martin with trading cocaine for a semiautomatic pistol. Judge Sessions ordered Martin to be detained after the jury returned its verdict and pending his sentencing.
United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of the ATF, the Burlington Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Vermont State Police in the investigation and prosecution of Martin. United States Attorney Kerest also stated, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to collaborate with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute drug traffickers who possess and use firearms in Vermont. Prosecution of firearm-related offenses remains one of our top priorities and we appreciate the diligent and courageous work of the officers throughout Vermont on these cases.”
Martin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release of at least three years, and up to a $1,000,000 fine. Martin’s actual sentence, however, will be determined by the sentencing judge with guidance from the advisory Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The prosecution of Martin was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wendy L. Fuller, Andrew C. Gilman, and Owen C.J. Foster. Martin was represented by Chandler Matson, Esq.
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. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. Please visit https://www.justice.gov/psn for more information.