U.S. District Court in Seattle on Friday sentenced an Auburn man to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release for cocaine and stolen firearm possession with intent to distribute the drug.

Roberto Martinez, 33, was arrested last March, following three drug sales to a confidential informant for the Auburn Police Department. When police and members of the Valley Special Response Team (VSRT) served a warrant on Martinez’s residence, they found drugs, cash, a scale and a stolen .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol sticking out from under the mattress of his bed.

According to filings in the case, Martinez had five prior felony convictions in Snohomish County. Those included two convictions in 1999 for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver; one conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm (1999); possession of cocaine (1994) and assault second degree (1993).

In asking for the lengthy sentence, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Colasurdo highlighted the danger of dealing drugs from the home Martinez shared with his 10-year-old son.

“Martinez’s decision to deal drugs out of the home he shared with his son placed them both in danger each time they opened the door,” Colasurdo wrote in his sentencing memo. “Moreover, his decision to keep a loaded firearm next to his bed did not lessen such danger. If anything, that decision increased the potential for harm since the firearm was just as likely to harm his curious 10-year-old son as it was to protect him.”

Martinez was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. PSN is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking new and existing local programs that target gun crime and then providing them with the resources and tools they need to succeed. Implementation at the local level – in this case, in King County – has fostered close partnerships between federal, state and local prosecutors and law enforcement

Auburn police, VSRT and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives investigated the case.