Detroit Man Sentenced to 240 Months for Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Overdose

 LEXINGTON, Ky.— Martinus Shamar Watts, 32, of Detroit, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison on Friday, by U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to Watts’ plea agreement, he admitted that he personally distributed fentanyl, that he supplied his co-defendants with the drug for distribution, and that he directed his co-defendants in their distribution of fentanyl.  Watts further admitted that he distributed fentanyl on March 20, 2019 to an individual who overdosed and nearly died from use of the substance.  In June 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Watts’ local address in Lexington.  Officers located drugs, two firearms, and more than $67,000 in U.S. currency that Watts admitted was proceeds of his drug trafficking activities.  

Watts pleaded guilty in August 2020.   

Under federal law, Watts must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Upon his release from prison, Watts will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 5 years.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Louisville Field Division; and Lawrence Weathers, Chief of the Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lexington Police Department.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Bradbury.