Records tell vivid drug-trade tale

Dominique "Nick" Martinez, who authorities say is a second-generation drug trafficker, is in jail today. For three years, though, police say he ran a business moving drugs out of Tucson.

Once loads of cocaine and marijuana made it here from Mexico, Martinez and his gang guarded the drugs at houses rented by their girlfriends, and then they'd divide and move the drugs to cities in Ohio and New York, records show.

This account of the rise and fall of the drug gang was pieced together using public records. Records show members had to earn the trust of Martinez, 28, and his partner, Jose Roberto Solano, whose involvement in the gang led to his death at 22. Screwing up meant a solid beating at best; at worst, death.

Their brazen ways attracted police attention and led to their arrests during the past year and a 28-count racketeering indictment against Martinez on Friday.

Running a drug business

In all businesses, a successful product requires attention to manufacturing, shipping and retail sales. The drug trade is no different, and this gang ran the shipping business, said prosecutor Richard Wintory, of the Pima County Attorney's Office.

Police say Martinez was the leader of a gang responsible for a violent spree that included murder, home-invasion-style robberies, kidnappings and a failed hit on a drug agent.

His attorney, Dan Cooper, called the account "a fantasy world of the prosecutor." Some charges against Martinez had been dropped before they were brought again in the Friday indictment, and there is no physical evidence linking Martinez to the murder and kidnappings, he said.

Before he was arrested nearly a year ago, Martinez had no criminal history. He is a Sabino High School graduate and a licensed pilot. But his father is convicted drug trafficker Edward Martinez, who evaded federal authorities for eight years before he was caught by U.S. marshals in Phoenix in December.

Now the younger Martinez faces one count of first-degree murder, eight counts of aggravated assault, seven counts of robbery, two counts of attempted robbery, three counts of threats, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of auto theft, and one count each of burglary, trafficking in stolen property and illegally conducting an enterprise.

If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Prayers for a kidnapped man

Working with Martinez made Antonio Gonzalez Cornejo, 30, an indebted man.

In his legitimate life, he ran a tire shop and sold used cars in Phoenix. In the underground, Cornejo was involved in the drug trade, and authorities suspect he owed Martinez money.

On July 24, 2005, at home in Goodyear, Cornejo told his wife he was going to the shop. Martinez and Solano met him there and they took him and two others hostage, the indictment alleges.

According to the indictment Martinez set Cornejo's ransom at 700 pounds of marijuana. Cornejo's group would have to deliver it to Tucson.

Solano was talking about killing the two witnesses, who had been pistol-whipped and robbed, when Cornejo said, "It's me you want," probably saving their lives, Wintory said. Martinez and Solano forced him into a black truck and drove away, the indictment alleges.

Cornejo's worried wife called her husband's cell phone several times, starting at 5 p.m. At 9, someone answered. It wasn't her husband.

She asked to talk to her husband, who told her to pray for him.

Then something went wrong. Records show marijuana was delivered to a Tucson hotel in a green truck once owned by Cornejo. But two Phoenix gangsters had come to Tucson, too. Police aren't sure if they were here to save Cornejo or steal the drugs for their own business.

Solano, taking over the green truck, and one of the other gangsters, in a white truck, started a rolling gunbattle down Tucson streets.

Solano somehow got away and picked up Jesus Roberto "Little Robert" Mendivil, who turned 18 that day. The two went to meet Martinez, who still had Cornejo in the black truck.

In a rage, Solano shot Cornejo, and Mendivil shoved the body out of the truck.

At 2 a.m. on July 25, a motorcyclist found Cornejo's body face-down in a pool of blood in the intersection of Prince and Country Club roads.

Next to the body, police found the wallets of Dominique Martinez and one of the witnesses to Cornejo's kidnapping.

Officers found the abandoned green truck, riddled with gunshots, a couple of miles away. While researching its history, a crime analyst came across a suspect in a drug rip-off and shooting, connecting Solano to the homicide.

Solano prayed for change

Solano was 14 when he was first arrested. After a few more arrests, he told his probation officer he'd prefer prison. He got his wish.

In a letter to a Juvenile Court judge, Solano wrote that he had tried to change.

". . . when I get out from DOC (the Department of Corrections) I promise to myself that I was going to stop getting things that doesn't belong to me (sic)."

Not long after Cornejo's murder, according to the indictment, Martinez gave Solano and Armando Gonzales Medrano, 20, a job to do: beat a man and take his Jaguar as payment for a $70,000 debt.

Martinez blamed his cousin, Vicente Sandoval, now 27, for a lost load of drugs, Sandoval later told police.

On Sept. 23, a badly beaten Sandoval called police, who found two pistols and some red-tipped bullets made to pierce bulletproof vests.

"You got about nine stitches in the back of your head that says he doesn't trust you very much," a detective told Sandoval at the hospital.

Another ransom goes wrong

Business evolved as the gang found a new way to make money: kidnapping for ransom, Wintory said.

On Sept. 29, 2005, Martinez organized his crew to kidnap Clive Cook-Tracey and Albert L. Walker. Martinez, Solano, Medrano and another man, dressed in police vests, surprised the two. Walker ran as Cook-Tracey was beaten and shoved into the black truck.

Martinez threatened to kill Cook-Tracey and showed him a picture of another man he said he'd killed. He drove him around the city, forcing him to withdraw money from ATMs. Police believe Solano used Cook-Tracey's cell phone to demand a $100,000 ransom from some New York connections. And Medrano burned Cook-Tracey's rental car.

Solano drove Cook-Tracey to a house near Silverbell Park and held him hostage, the indictment alleges. Cook-Tracey took a chance, escaping into the desert. Meanwhile, Walker was calling police.

At that moment, detectives and prosecutors were meeting about how to go after the gang. Four detectives were separately working crimes the gang members committed. The detectives had tied the cases together while working at the Counter Narcotics Alliance, Wintory said.

With news of the kidnapping, they acted fast, sending officers to the neighborhood before they knew where Cook-Tracey was.

An undercover sergeant parked his truck and waited for an exact location. He saw something suspicious: an armed man walking as if he were hunting.

While waiting for commands, the sergeant moved his unmarked truck, which proved to be a dangerous mistake.

Solano came up to the truck and said, "I know you're a cop." He held a gun to the sergeant's head and pulled the trigger.

Click. Click.

Recognizing the misfires as his chance to stay alive, the sergeant dived out, firing his pistol from behind his truck.

Running toward the desert to reload, he tripped on the curb, missing Solano's shots. He reloaded and fired into his truck as Solano drove off in the truck full of police gear. They exchanged 15 shots.

Uninjured, Solano went to the gang's clubhouse, an apartment at North Swan Road and East Sunrise Drive. There, Martinez divided the spoils. He gave Solano the sergeant's pistol and kept a badge.

The next morning, the gang members went to their regular business meeting place, a McDonald's at North Swan Road and East Sunrise Drive, to talk about their next move, but it was too late.

A police dragnet and a tip led police to the clubhouse. A SWAT team was about to set up when Medrano and Solano were spotted leaving the apartment with some of the police gear.

Solano gave the pistol he'd stolen from the sergeant to his friend. He wanted him to be armed.

Officers chased them in a car for a couple of miles before Solano and Medrano got out and ran, leaving an assault rifle hanging out the open door.

Officers caught up to Medrano and arrested him as Solano ran into the desert. An officer heard a shot ring out and fired back, but in the bushes, Solano had shot himself in the head.

Gang falls apart

Police arrested Martinez at the McDonald's. He is being held at the Pima County jail on $1 million bond.

Martinez's attorney, Cooper, said the prosecutor's story about Martinez is an exaggeration. "They've taken a kid with no criminal history . . . and they've made this kid into the drug kingpin," he said.

In January, Medrano pleaded guilty to illegally conducting an enterprise, aggravated assault and kidnapping. He is in jail, charged with kidnapping. He declined to comment for this story.

Mendivil, now 19, was arrested on May 2 and is in jail in lieu of $1 million bond. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and violating his probation. He declined to comment for this story but denied being a gang member through his attorney, Bertram Polis.

The number of crimes the group is suspected of committing — from car break-ins to shootings — is in the dozens, police said.

On Friday, a grand jury indicted the group for racketeering under an Arizona law that makes business partners responsible for each other's crimes. It was the only way to put the case together in all its complexity, Wintory said.

"Having these guys in custody is like grabbing a tiger by the tail," he said.

On StarNet: Read more crime-related stories as well as our Police Beat blog at azstarnet.com/crime

Timeline of events

July 2005 — Antonio Gonzalez Cornejo is reported missing and is found murdered the next day.

Sept. 2005 — The gang beats Vicente Sandoval, 27. The gang kidnaps Clive Cook-Tracey and Solano tries to kill a drug agent. Jose Roberto Solano kills himself in a confrontation with police after a dragnet turns up Solano and Armando Medrano. Dominique Martinez is arrested.

Dec. 2005 — Martinez's father arrested in Phoenix.

Jan. 2006 — An arrest warrant is issued for Jesus Roberto "Little Robert" Mendivil and Medrano takes a plea agreement.

March 13, 2006 — Sandoval is arrested in a drug bust in Cincinnati.

May 2, 2006 — Mendivil is arrested.

Aug. 11, 2006 — A racketeering indictment is issued against Martinez.