Jessica Martinez Sentenced To Time Served In Former Senator Bradley’s Case – ‘He Did Me Wrong’

After years of waiting, Jessica Martinez has received closure.

U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden on Tuesday sentenced the former Board of Education chair to time served for lying to a federal grand jury regarding her role as treasurer of the state senate campaign of Dennis Bradley who was charged four years ago with multiple counts of wire fraud for falsifying campaign finance forms following a March 2018 candidacy announcement for the legislature at Dolphin’s Cove in the East End.

In an interview with OIB Tuesday afternoon following her sentencing Martinez sounded relieved, declaring “this is closure for me after many years.”

The government alleges Bradley leveraged his law firm as a campaign front for what was clearly a candidacy announcement for state office, raising campaign money at the event in violation of state law, directing campaign staff to cover his tracks by falsifying donation cards to reflect the fundraising did not take place March 15, 2018 and falsifying campaign finance reports to receive $84,140 of public dollars in aid of his campaign.

Bradley served as Martinez’s personal attorney when she signed up as treasurer of his campaign which he won in 2018. Bradley was defeated by Herron Gaston in a 2022 Democratic primary.

In an interview with OIB Martinez said that Bradley “manipulated her to lie before the grand jury. He was my lawyer, I trusted him. He did me wrong.”

Martinez says Bradley coached her on what to say before the grand jury such as “Dolphin’s Cove had zero to do with me and the campaign.”

Martinez said she spent 19 days in lockup for violating substance-abuse release conditions while her case was pending. It was that time the judge declared as time served.

Bradley’s case is scheduled for trial in December.

What follows is the letter Martinez read to the judge prior to her sentencing.

My name is Jessica Martinez and I am here before you today because I did lie to a Grand Jury and the moment I walked off that stand my head was circling asking myself why? I immediately felt regret and remorse for not being truthful. Ultimately, it was me who damaged my integrity and morals.

Your honor, I am not proud of my actions in this case. However, all 43 years of my life I am extremely proud of. Who I am, I am proud. I was raised on honesty, truth, morals, integrity and being the light in dark situations. A product of Hector and Jennnie Muniz, powerful leaders, servants, missionaries in Central America for about 25 years now, Evangelist and Pastors. A Product of an inner city where most families have a single mother household and absent fathers. A product of a system that was and is set up for failure in the black and brown community. I am a child of God, a servant to my community, a fighter against injustice, hardworking, a problem solver, a fighter for the voice of the people, my voice. My heart is big and my heart is pure.

I want to express how much justice means to me. It was in middle school, James J. Curiale School, in the west side of Bridgeport,  where I understood slavery, the lack of rights the black and brown community had. I was devastated by the true history of our ancestors. I remember looking around my classroom and being so confused, so hurt and so upset. Understanding that I had to do something about it. It was then God revealed my purpose to be a soldier for the people, a fighter against injustice and a person that was created to right wrongs. Lift Every Voice and Sing….It was the lyrics we sang on stage year after year that I did not comprehend until then.

I have marched on for liberty and victory since then, when power brokers today are fighting for 2nd chance movements, I am fighting for our people to have a 1st chance. I am not excusing my actions, I own them. It wasn’t only my heart of trust and love that clouded my judgement, it was also the fact that I felt immense injustice against me and my people, and at the time I believed that Dennis Bradley was part of the solution.

My actions caused me to suffer because who I am was stripped from me. I was federally indicted. I had to stay silent and lose my voice. I lived through public ridicule. I was ripped from my family and career. I was imprisoned for 19 days locked in a cell alone for 23 hours for 14 days straight. Media blow after media blow it continued to deepen my abuse, wounds and the loss of my voice. It was at that time that I was living with the monster who broke me to pieces.

These last 7 years have been challenging in various ways. But the biggest blessings that came out of this, is my treatment for the trauma and the breakdown of my mental health. In some ways this case was a journey God gave me to get closer to him, to heal from past trauma and to be a better me! There was purpose in this 7 year journey, no matter how hard, challenging and hurtful.

Your honor, God has revealed to me that my work isn’t over. My future plans are to allow God to define where my leadership, voice and fight belongs. He has opened up my eyes to hurting people with trauma and substance abuse illness. I know I will be running for office again because my inner city needs someone who is full of light, experience and conviction. My ministry is my community and it is not over. I recently went to Hartford to speak to our legislators, with 4 bus loads of community leaders, parents, children, to continue our fight for equity in education across Connecticut period. My future is full of hope, wisdom, strength and purpose! I will operate my future how I operated my entire life, the leader that is always a student, a law abiding citizen with a conscious, morals and integrity. I will live my life continuing my mental health treatment and holding myself accountable with my church, the women’s bookclub, NA, CCAR and making sure I have at least two sessions a month with my therapist/phycologist. And I will carry forward with me the lessons that I learned from this case and will never make the same mistakes again.

Your honor because of these last 7 years there have been setbacks to some of my goals, it has also deepened my trauma. However, these last 7 years have also continued to build my character, strengthen my wisdom and mental health, to better choose and pick my battles. It has brought me healing. For lying to a grand jury I am deeply sorry.

Your honor Thank you for allowing me a voice and again I sit here apologizing to the justice system for my actions.