We all have those clients. You know, those that annoy you a lot. But most of us have the good sense not to hire someone to kill them. Not so Steven Martinez.
Martinez, a former IRS agent turned private tax preparer, was arrested in March of this year in Sorrento Valley, California, and accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill witnesses – some of them allegedly former clients – in a case against him. Last year, Martinez was indicted on 49 criminal counts including mail fraud and money laundering.
Originally, Martinez pleaded not guilty to charges stemmed from allegations that Martinez stole $11 million from his clients by lying about the amounts they owed to tax authorities. Martinez told his clients that they owed more than they did – and convinced them to write checks to his trust account to pay their liabilities, which he promised to take care of. He pocketed the rest, which worked out to be a lot of cash.
So what did Martinez do with the cash? He bought a beach house, vacationed in Mexico, used a private aircraft to jet around, went to the Super Bowl, paid off debts, and made some investments. Oh, and he also used it to pay a hitman to kill witnesses while waiting for his trial.
The hitman, a former employee, said that Martinez provided photos of the witnesses to be killed and the promise of cash to a hitman: $40,000 down and the balance of $60,000 after the job was completed. Some of that cash (just over $42,500) was found in a cereal box in the alleged hit man’s home.
The saga finally came to an end last week. Martinez pleaded guilty to a number of felonies including solicitation of a violent crime, interstate commerce in murder for hire, witness tampering, and mail fraud. His sentencing is set for November 30, 2012. Martinez could face up to 100 years in prison.
