State worker accused of embezzling
Officials say former education department worker took $246,000 and bought drugs
State officials allege a former Department of Education staffer took almost a quarter million dollars in government funds and used some of the money to buy illegal drugs.
Gary Martin, 43, former administrative manager for the state library system, already faces drug and weapons charges.
At a bail hearing Monday, a department finance officer alleged Martin embezzled $246,184 from the agency. Law enforcement officials said they are investigating the case and may seek felony first-degree theft charges.
Superior Court Judge Larry Weeks raised Martin's bail to $100,000 after hearing testimony about the alleged embezzlement. Martin was taken into custody shortly after the hearing.
Brenda O'Donnell, finance officer for the Department of Education, testified at a bail hearing Monday in Juneau Superior Court that she began auditing the department's books after police told state library officials Martin may have been stealing to fund a drug habit.
O'Donnell alleged Martin, who was in charge of purchasing equipment and maintaining the budget for the library for the past 10 years, created phony purchase orders for supplies and services from fictitious companies and paid for the "purchases" with state checks totaling about $152,274.
"To my knowledge none of these companies ever supplied equipment or services to the state," testified O'Donnell. "They all had the same address : A P.O. box in Mr. Martin's name."
O'Donnell also testified Martin charged nearly $94,000 in Internet purchases to a state credit card but the state never received any of the goods.
Sgt. John Boltjes testified Monday that police have evidence at least some of the money may have been used to purchase nearly 6,000 tablets of the painkillers OxyContin, HydroxyContin and Tylenol 3 with codeine between May 31 and Oct. 1. Martin allegedly spent more than $41,000 on the drugs, Boltjes said.
OxyContin and its derivatives are legal prescription painkillers, but have been used in recent years as a street drug, said Greg Pease, director of Gastineau Human Services, a Juneau half-way house program. Users usually crush tablets of the drug and snort or inject it to get a high likened to that of heroin, he said.
Police said they still are trying to figure out how Martin allegedly got the drugs, but think most of them were mailed to his home or to him at the library. Police also are trying to determine whether he used a prescription to obtain the drugs. Police said they have no evidence to suggest Martin was selling the drugs.
No charges have been brought against Martin relating to the alleged theft, said defense attorney David Mallet.
Police and state officials are investigating the case, said state Education Department spokesman Harry Gamble. Martin was removed from his position earlier this month and an investigation was started when his supervisors learned he may have stolen money, Gamble said. Martin is still employed with the state.
Martin was indicted this month on two counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree misconduct involving weapons, all felonies, according to court records.
The indictment charges that on Oct. 19 and 30, Martin illegally obtained Vicodin, a powerful prescription painkiller. The indictment also accused Martin of possessing two fully automatic assault rifles: a Colt AR-15 A2 and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle with a bipod mount. It is illegal to possess fully automatic weapons.
Mallet said Martin pleaded innocent to charges at his arraignment earlier this month. He declined any further comment. According to court records, Martin is a licensed firearms dealer. Mallet argued in a motion to change Martin's bail requirements that officials can't prove the weapons found on Martin's property were fully automatic.
The prosecution presented its case in a court document stating that on Oct. 19, Martin went to Juneau Urgent Care complaining of back pain. A doctor prescribed 30 tablets of Vicodin. Several days later, Martin went back to the clinic asking for a refill on his prescription and was denied.
On Oct. 30, he went back to the clinic and gave his real name but a phony birth date and Social Security number, the documents said. He claimed he was a new patient and a doctor wrote him a prescription for Vicodin.
Later, as the second doctor was reviewing his records, he uncovered Martin's alleged scam and the police were called.
Police searched Martin's home, vehicle and Urgent Care records. They also had a warrant to inspect his firearms. During the search, police found the alleged automatic weapons. According to court documents, Martin admitted the drug scam to police while they were searching his home.
Martin's trial on drug and weapons charges is scheduled for Feb. 10. If convicted he faces up to five years in prison on each count.
Melanie Plenda can be reached at mplenda@juneauempire.com.