Charges mount against Southern Illinois sheriff
ST. LOUIS -- A southern Illinois sheriff already accused of dealing marijuana while on duty now faces federal charges that he tried to have witnesses in the drug case assaulted -- and possibly killed -- as part of a scheme he masterminded while jailed awaiting trial.
The new indictment returned Wednesday against Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond Martin by grand jurors in Benton, Ill., includes witness-tampering and conspiracy charges similar to state charges already filed against Martin, his wife and son in Jackson County, Ill.
The 15-count indictment does not identify by name the witnesses the sheriff allegedly wanted assaulted, though time frames mentioned in the charges mirror those detailed at a preliminary hearing for Martin's wife last month on the Jackson County murder-for-hire charges.
Authorities there allege that Martin, while jailed on the federal drug charges levied against him last spring, enlisted his wife and 20-year-old son in the murder plot that offered two cellmates as much as $17,000 to kill the witnesses -- even supplying a detailed map to the targets' homes.
Witnesses have testified that alleged plot carried out between September and December of last year unraveled when the second of the two would-be hit men got cold feet and reported the plot to authorities, then cooperated with them. Neither of the scheme's targets were harmed.
Wednesday's indictment also seeks the U.S. government's seizure of Martin's house, the handguns he's alleged to have carried while trafficking marijuana on the job, and up to $104,000 investigators allegedly found in his home.
Martin's attorney, John O'Gara, said Thursday he had not yet seen the indictment and could not immediately comment about it.
The Martins have pleaded not guilty to the Jackson County charges. Raymond Martin, still jailed, has pleaded not guilty to the previous federal felony counts tied to his alleged drug trafficking.
Martin remains sheriff, although Gallatin County's governing board sent Martin a letter in January urging him to resign. Meanwhile, one of his deputies has been named interim sheriff and won last month's Democratic primary for the job. Shannon Bradley will face a Republican challenger in November's election.
Federal agents arrested Martin last year on charges he trafficked marijuana as sheriff, allegedly supplying a drug dealer and then threatening to kill him when the man said he wanted out. At least twice, according to an affidavit by Drug Enforcement Administration agent Glenn Rountree, Martin pulled his service revolver to press the point that making the dealer "disappear" would be "that easy."