Conspiracy added to charges against Sheriff Raymond Martin

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond M. Martin, 46, Junction, now has a charge of conspiracy added to drug and firearm charges.

A Federal Grand Jury sitting in East St. Louis returned a superseding indictment against Martin Sept. 23 charging him with three counts of distribution of marijuana, two counts of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, according to a release from U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois A. Courtney Cox.

Martin was charged by a grand jury sitting in Benton June 2 with the marijuana distribution and firearms counts.

The superseding indictment added the conspiracy charge which prosecutors believe happened between November 2008 and May 18, 2009.

Each of the three marijuana counts carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 and a term of supervised release of at least two years.

The first firearm offense carries a minimum penalty of five years which must be served consecutively to any sentence on the drug counts, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years supervised release. The second firearm count carries a minimum penalty of 25 years imprisonment to be served consecutively to the other counts, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years supervised release. Both firearm counts have a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a $250,000 fine and a term of supervised release of at least two years.