A former Hailey woman who is accused of scamming Hispanic workers out of more than $8,000 has waived her preliminary hearing and now faces trial unless a plea agreement is reached first.
Raquel Martinez, 28, who court records say now lives in Shoshone, is charged with three felony counts of grand theft and four misdemeanor counts of petit theft for allegedly scamming seven local Hispanic workers out of $8,335. She allegedly claimed falsely to be a federal immigration employee and promised to help the workers obtain legal residency in the United States in exchange for them depositing money into her checking account.
Martinez was arrested in November 2006 following an investigation by the Ketchum Police Department.
She waived her preliminary hearing in Blaine County Magistrate Court on March 1, and Judge R. Ted Israel ordered her case to be transferred to the district court level.
According to court records, Martinez and her public defender, Dan Dolan, have been negotiating a plea agreement with the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
Plea agreements are not typically made public until after they are finalized, but an affidavit filed with the court by Martinez states her understanding of the proposed terms. The affidavit says that Martinez believes she will be required to plead guilty to one count of forgery and repay $8,335 in restitution to the alleged victims.
The affidavit further says that Martinez understands that the prosecuting attorney's office will not oppose a withheld judgment, will ask for 240 hours of community service and will not file to have Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee disqualified from hearing the case.
Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas has filed motions to have Elgee disqualified from eight other Blaine County felony cases since September 2006.
Raquel Martinez
