John Martinez Convicted of Burglary and Robbery Charges in Four Separate Incidents

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the sentencing of JOHN MARTINEZ, 40, to 18 years-to-life in prison for using an ice pick or knife to rob three women as they entered their homes in and around Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village on the East Side of Manhattan, and for attempting to do the same to a fourth woman. On November 10, 2011, MARTINEZ pled guilty to Burglary in the Second Degree and Attempted Robbery in the First Degree.

“This defendant threatened the safety and security of women and children in their own apartment buildings,” said District Attorney Vance. “With this strong sentence, a dangerous criminal will be kept out of our neighborhoods.”

According to documents filed in court, on November 22, 2010, MARTINEZ cornered his first victim in the elevator of her apartment building in Peter Cooper Village. While riding in the elevator, MARTINEZ pulled out a knife and demanded the woman give him money. The victim handed over approximately $700 in cash, and MARTINEZ fled.

On December 2, 2010, in the elevator of a residential building in Stuyvesant Town, MARTINEZ pulled out an ice pick and demanded that his second victim, who was with her three-year-old son at the time, hand over her money, jewelry and credit cards. After the victim gave him approximately $80 in cash, he threatened to stab the child if his mother did not take MARTINEZ back to her family’s apartment to retrieve more money. When they arrived at the victim’s floor, the woman and child were able to enter their apartment without MARTINEZ gaining entry.

Minutes later on December 2, 2010, MARTINEZ entered an apartment building on East 14th Street and once again boarded an elevator with a woman and her two small children. MARTINEZ wielded the ice pick and requested that she give him her jewelry and money. The victim handed him her wallet and a ring, and he fled.

Less than a half-hour before the first successful robbery on December 2, 2010, the defendant followed a woman into a different apartment building on East 14th Street. However, the woman refused to step into the elevator with the defendant, although he encouraged her to do so. MARTINEZ was charged with Burglary in the Second Degree in connection with this incident.

District Attorney Vance thanked Assistant District Attorneys James Zaleta and Samuel David for prosecuting this case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kerry O’Connell, Chief of Trial Bureau 80, and Executive Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, Chief of the Trial Division.

Defendant Information:

JOHN MARTINEZ, D.O.B. 06/30/1971
Bronx, NY

Convicted:
• Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count
• Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, a class C felony, three counts

Sentence:
• 18 years-to-life in state prison

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