Jason Martinez, Domestic Assault, South Dakota 2017

Jason Martinez, 41, of McLaughlin, South Dakota, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison on January 5, 2017, for a savage domestic assault that left his girlfriend bloodied and battered in the basement of a home where the attack unfolded after a night of drinking and arguing. U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann handed down the sentence for the crime of Domestic Assault by a Habitual Offender, a conviction that marks the culmination of a violent pattern prosecutors say Martinez has long refused to abandon.

The assault occurred on December 8, 2016, after Martinez and his girlfriend had been socializing with friends. Following a heated exchange, the woman returned to her basement apartment to collect her belongings. Moments later, Martinez appeared behind her without warning. He hurled a demeaning remark, then launched into a relentless physical attack—punching her in the head, face, and legs, slamming her to the ground, and striking her repeatedly in the back as she cowered in a corner, curled in a defensive ball.

Despite her attempts to protect herself, Martinez tore at her clothing and continued beating her until blood poured down her face, impairing her vision. The attack was so ferocious that the victim suffered deep lacerations to her scalp—wounds so severe her skull was visible. She required multiple stitches to close the gashes. Bruises, scrapes, and abrasions covered her body, evidence of a prolonged and merciless assault captured in medical reports and witness accounts.

Martinez had been indicted by a federal grand jury on January 21, 2016, with a Superseding Indictment filed July 19, 2016. He entered a guilty plea on August 15, 2016, sparing the victim a trial but doing little to mitigate the gravity of his actions. As a habitual offender with prior convictions, federal law mandated a stiffer penalty, and prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota ensured the full force of that law was applied.

The investigation was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency, agencies that routinely respond to violent crimes in tribal jurisdictions where federal law often applies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case, emphasizing Martinez’s repeated disregard for the law and the lasting trauma inflicted on the victim, who survived an attack no one should have to endure.

In addition to 120 months in federal custody, Martinez will serve 3 years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. He was remanded immediately into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following sentencing, disappearing into the federal prison system with the weight of his violence finally catching up to him.

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