The wife of a suspected Orange County Mexican Mafia boss was sentenced Thursday to 57 months in federal prison for her role in a racketeering case.
Brenda Vanessa Campos Martinez, the wife of reputed OC Mexican Mafia chief Johnny Martinez, pleaded guilty April 24 to conspiracy to distribute and possess heroin and methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Fred W. Slaughter set a May 15 self-surrender date for Campos Martinez and ordered five years of supervised release when she finishes her prison time.
Her conviction stemmed from a racketeering case against the Orange County chapter of the gang.
Campos Martinez tearfully apologized for her time serving as a “secretary” for her husband.
“Your honor, I wish I could take back time, but I can’t,” CamposMartinez said. “I am sorry for my actions.”
Attorney Meghan Blanco said her client has been “a law-abiding citizen most of her life.” She said Campos Martinez was motivated to please her husband, not her own personal enrichment, and he took advantage of her.
“She has a history of struggling with low self-esteem,” the defense attorney said.
In 2019, when she was first approached by law enforcement investigating the Mexican Mafia she decided to walk away from her relationship with Martinez, Blanco said. She said her client was too afraid to file for divorce.
“Unlike every other defendant in this case she extricated herself entirely,” Blanco said. “She moved, she cut off her phone and stopped communicating with everyone.”
Blanco also argued that anticipated changes in sentencing guidelines as of May would qualify Campos Martinez for probation in the case. Blanco argued for a year and a day of prison, a year of home
confinement, 300 hours of community service, mental health counseling and five years of supervised release for her client.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples recommended 71 months in federal prison.
“All I’m hearing is it’s not my fault, my husband made me do it,” Staples said. “She deliberately decided not to realize what was patently obvious … It’s difficult to accept she is truly remorseful when she points a
finger at everyone but herself.”
A search of Campos Martinez’s residence in 2019 is what prompted her to distance herself from the Mexican Mafia, Staples said. He described her work as bookkeeping for the mafia that involved tracking who was under the crime organization’s umbrella and collecting money from extortion, passing messages to members and managing the books.
Campos Martinez is accused of attempting to extort $800 from a confidential informant whom she believed to be a drug dealer, federal authorities said. In return, protection from the Mexican Mafia was offered, according to a sentencing brief. Another extortion attempt amounted to $400 and collected a $900 drug debt in September 2017, authorities said.
She had planning calendars with ledgers of extortion collections, receipts and other records, authorities said.
“To say that her role was minimal does not equate to what her status was,” Staples said.