Efrain Martinez Walks Away With Fourteen-Year Sentence Deduction

Efrain Beltran Martinez

Today, sixty-year-old Efrain Beltran Martinez was told that his initial twenty year sentence for the death of forty-three-year old Elmer Salazar would be reduced to six. Martinez, a Salvadoran national, pleaded guilty to manslaughter early this year, following the death of Salazar- a Guatemalan national who was found chopped to death on the compound of Belize Marine and Mooring Services, in January 2019. Martinez, represented by attorney Leeroy Banner, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a third of his twenty-year sentence by Justice Ricardo O’Neil Sandcroft. According to Martinez’s Social Information Report, he maintained good behavior and showed signs of remorse while serving time in prison. However, due to the nature of the victim’s death- who received up to five slashes to his neck- and the fact that life was lost, only a five-year additional deduction would be rewarded in order to, in the judge’s words, strike a balance. Despite this, another three years was taken off from his sentence after two witnesses provided character testimonies in which they maintained that Martinez was a humble man who worked hard to provide for his family. The testimonies came from Martinez’s eldest daughter, Merna Agueta, and his former employer of sixteen years, George Orellano. Orellano stated that the act was out of character for his employee and that Salazar had sought out Martinez and aggravated him, causing him to lose his temper. Attorney Banner had initially proposed that Martinez’s starting sentence be a maximum of twelve to fifteen years before the deduction. However, Justice Sandcroft denied this proposal, stating, “you must go to jail, I must send a message”.  With that, Martinez will serve a reduced sentence of six years in prison.