Felon said he was ‘making money selling drugs’ at Lighthouse Pier. Now he’s in prison
A Hattiesburg felon said he “was making money selling drugs” when police arrested him with a carload of drugs and a gun he couldn’t legally carry because of his criminal record.
A Biloxi jury convicted Juan Romaro Martinez, 49, last week on four counts of possession with intent to sell a controlled substance and one count of felon in possession of a firearm, according to Harrison County District Attorney Crosby Parker.
Judge Randi Mueller sentenced Martinez to 68 years in prison, with 58 years to serve as a habitual offender without the possibility of parole or early release.
Biloxi police arrested Martinez in July 2022 after spotting Martinez sitting in a vehicle near Lighthouse Pier with drug paraphernalia in plain view.
Biloxi police searched the vehicle and found a removable hidden compartment in his console that resulted in the seizure of an assortment of drugs, including methamphetamines, the painkillers Hydrocodone, Suboxone strips used to treat opiate addictions, and packing material along with digital scales, according to Assistant District Attorney Mara Joffe.
When asked about the gun, Martinez told police he “would rather get caught (with the gun) than without it,” according to Joffe, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney Meaghan Smith.
The jury convicted Martinez after one hour of deliberation.
Martinez had prior convictions for possession of precursors and simple assault on a law enforcement. In the previous felony assault case, prosecutors said Martinez had bitten and broken the nose of a corrections officer.
Before handing down the sentence, Mueller noted Martinez’s lengthy criminal history and talked about how a drug crime is “certainly not a victimless crime.”
“It’s poison,” Mueller said. “It poisons our communities, tears families apart, causes homelessness.”
Biloxi police Sgt. Rodgerick Wiggins testified at the trial.
Parker commended Wiggins for work on the case.
“His professionalism is evident in his daily work and throughout this case,” Parker said in a release. “The day-for-day habitual sentence handed down by the Court reflects the defendant’s continued choices to poison our Coast.”
