TRF man sentenced for separate felony offenses at Walmart

TRF man sentenced for separate felony offenses at Walmart
TRF man sentenced for separate felony offenses at Walmart

A Thief River Falls man was sentenced Monday, Jan. 23 in Pennington County District Court for separate felony offenses involving the same retailer.

Ricardo Martinez, 32, was sentenced for felony theft – previous conviction and felony third-degree burglary.

Both stemmed from incidents at Wal­mart in Thief River Falls.

For the former offense, Martinez was sentenced to 19 months in prison and stayed for five years. He was ordered to serve supervised probation for five years. If his probation agent recommends it, he was ordered to complete and pay for an updated comprehensive assessment within 60 days of sentencing. Martinez was ordered to enter and successfully complete Drug Court. He was ordered to not use or possess firearms, ammunition, or explosives. Martinez was also ordered to pay $210 in fees and fines. The state has 30 days to file a certificate of restitution. If the defense objects to the amount, the defense has 30 days to file an objec­tion.

That charge stemmed from a May 5 report of an attempted theft at Walmart, according to the complaint. Martinez attempted to steal two Vizio TVs and other items with a total value of $610.10.

When Martinez was outside of the store, an employee asked to see his receipt. Martinez then took the items out of his vehicle and placed them inside a cart. The items were then returned to the store. The complaint indicated that Martinez had been convicted of gross misdemeanor theft in 2021.

For the latter offense, Martinez was sentenced to 27 months in prison and stayed for five years. The same conditions apply. In that case, a Walmart employee reported that Martinez had entered the store even though a no-tres­passing order had been signed due to the prior inci­dent.

On surveillance video, Martinez could be seen stealing a backpack. It was unclear if he stole anything else, but it appeared some­ thing was inside of the backpack at the time that he left the store. The back­ pack was valued at $24.88.

At the time that the complaint was issued, a warrant was requested. It was noted the warrant was sought since he was continuing to commit crimes and since another warrant was on file for a probation violation in another case.

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