A federal judge Thursday handed down a prison sentence of 65 years for immigration, identity theft and weapons violations to a man awaiting a murder trial in state court over the shooting death of his boss at the Millennium Hotel.
Javier Antonio Martinez, 49, a citizen of the Dominican Republic who is in the United States illegally, was originally deported in 1992 for felony drug charges, according to his federal sentencing documents. He re-entered the United States illegally and lived for years under stolen identities. When he was arrested for the killing at the hotel, he was living under the name Victor Rodriguez Flores.
A federal jury found Martinez guilty of making false claims of U.S. citizenship, aggravated identity theft, re-entry after deportation and possession of a gun as an illegal alien. If he is found guilty on the state murder charge, he will likely be sentenced to additional prison time.
"He's just a very dangerous, dangerous man," said U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline at his sentencing Thursday. He said Martinez has a "generally unsavory character" and labeled him a "violent man" and a "narcissist."
The federal prosecutor, Tom Bradley, asked for the maximum sentence of 65 years, while Steven Wells, the court-appointed defense attorney, asked for 20.
Bradley recounted Martinez's criminal history to the judge -- drug crimes in Rhode Island that led to deportation and two arrests in Florida for beating women after he unlawfully returned to the United States. Bradley recounted witnesses at the Millennium shooting who said Martinez was "calm and collected" when he shot his former boss, Kerry Fadely, 11 times after asking her, "Do you want some of this?"
"He has violated the most sacred of our societal norms through his crimes," Bradley said.
Bradley said Martinez threatened to kill correctional officers while in jail. He said that Martinez told guards he felt he was being "played" and said, "I was played before and that's why I committed murder."
"I see no hope for him," Bradley said.
Wells argued for a lesser sentence, and said that the prosecution's case was based on a murder of which his client had not been convicted yet in state court. He said that Martinez hasn't received his right to defend himself against such a charge.
"If he is guilty of a homicide, the place to deal with that is in the state court," Wells said.
When the judge asked Martinez if he'd like to make a statement, he declined, saying he was "not being charged with murder in a federal case."
During the sentencing, Beistline said that he remembered the witnesses who testified at the federal trial, who said they'd seen Martinez fire the gun. He said he remembered the autopsy report.
"I am convinced the defendant murdered Ms. Fadely," he said.
"Mr. Martinez has a bad temper, doesn't think things through and when he acts in that fashion he jeopardizes us all," he said.
Martinez filed an appeal Thursday.
A RECORD OF CRIME
Martinez was originally in the United States legally and was deported in 1992 after committing drug crimes in Rhode Island, according to the sentencing memorandum filed with the federal court. He was convicted of possessing heroin, later caught distributing cocaine and, soon after, driving recklessly and causing serious bodily injury to another person.
Martinez was advised not to return to the United States but he made his way back to south Florida by 1993. He spent the next 18 years in and out of jail under several names, undetected by immigration authorities.
For a time, he went by Rudy Santiago. Under that name he was convicted of felony assault after beating a woman in Fort Lauderdale and threatening her with a hammer. After that, Martinez started going by Humberto Rivera. In 1996, he was arrested for beating a woman. He returned to jail.
In 1998, Martinez was released from a Florida jail. Until his touchdown in Alaska in 2009, he avoided arrest. He obtained identity documents in the name of Victor Rodriguez Flores, a native of Puerto Rico and therefore a U.S. citizen.
That's the name he used to work a number of jobs in Alaska. He used it to get the serving job at the Millennium Hotel from which he was later fired, according to police.
Martinez returned about a week later to confront his boss, Fadely, 55, according to police. He shot her with a .45-caliber handgun, police said. The gun was found at the scene.
Investigators also found a letter from Martinez at the hotel, according to the sentencing memorandum. It explained why he was unhappy working there, according to federal prosecutors. The letter directed the hotel to send Martinez's final paycheck to the Anchorage Jail.
Martinez's trial in state court for first-degree murder and other charges is scheduled to begin Dec. 2.
If Martinez is convicted of murder charges in state court, the state sentencing judge will decide if Martinez will serve his state and federal sentences concurrently or consecutively.
Reach Tegan Hanlon at thanlon@adn.com or 257-4589.
By TEGAN HANLON