AG investigation into county commissioner reveals alleged affair but nothing illegal

RIGBY — An eight-month investigation into a Jefferson County commissioner by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office found the elected official allegedly had an extramarital affair with a county employee but did nothing illegal.

Commissioner Fred Martinez was cleared of allegations of misuse of public funds, stalking, burglary and unlawful entry. The accusations were brought to Jefferson County Prosecutor Paul Butikofer, who requested the attorney general investigate Martinez in May 2017. The investigation concluded in December.

EastIdahoNews.com obtained nearly 400 pages of investigative documents from the Attorney General’s Office through a public records request.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE CONCLUDING LETTER SENT TO THE JEFFERSON COUNTY PROSECUTOR

Martinez, who is up for re-election, is a former county employee who was elected in 2016. He says the accusations are false and were made up in an effort to oust him from office.

Allegations of stalking, burglary, unlawful entry

The accusations of stalking, burglary and unlawful entry involved a female county employee, who EastIdahoNews.com is not identifying, and two specific events at the woman’s home. The investigation indicates Martinez was having a consensual sexual relationship with the employee. When the woman felt the relationship was getting out of control, she tried to break it off and rebuff Martinez’s continued advancements, according to investigative documents and text messages between the pair.

Documents detail an incident where the woman made an Easter basket for Martinez and his family in April 2017. She gave him permission to enter her home when she wasn’t there to pick up the basket.

A few days after Martinez retrieved the basket, the woman noticed writing on her steamed bathroom mirror following a shower. It said “love” with a heart drawn underneath.

The employee’s boyfriend denied writing the message and when the woman contacted Martinez, he said it was him and told her, “I was waiting for you to find it,” according to investigative documents.

As part of the investigation, the Attorney General’s Office searched both Martinez’s and the woman’s phones. They found numerous messages between the two that led investigators to question whether there was more to the relationship. Many of the text messages were of a sexual nature.

When confronted, the woman told investigators the two had engaged in a brief sexual relationship.

According to investigators, Martinez denied having a sexual relationship with the woman and said he never entered her home when she wasn’t there. When pressed about the Easter basket, which Martinez’s wife remembered him picking up, he said, “There’s no basket.”

The woman and multiple co-workers told investigators Martinez would frequently visit her place of work. One colleague said he visited at least two times a week. Another said he was “super flirty” with the woman.

Images of text messages contained in the investigative documents show the woman told Martinez to stop coming to her office unless it was for official commissioner business. But he apparently didn’t listen. A subsequent video recording shot by the woman shows Martinez entering and sitting on her desk while attempting to engage in conversation.

One of her co-workers told investigators Martinez “hug(ged) and touch(ed) the woman’s back” whenever he visited. Another co-worker said she noticed the woman became “visibly upset” when Martinez entered the office.

After multiple interviews with several employees and others, the Attorney General’s Office did not find sufficient evidence to pursue charges against Martinez regarding the stalking, burglary or unlawful entry.

Misuse of public funds

Martinez was also accused of misusing public funds related to mileage reimbursements he filed with the county.

Martinez, Commissioner Scott Hancock and Commissioner Brian Farnsworth all told investigators they mostly use personal vehicles when conducting county business. The county then reimburses their mileage.

According to the investigation, Martinez said he sometimes uses a county vehicle for official county business but when he does, he does not submit a reimbursement form.

“The independent review and approval process establishes that the commissioners found Mr. Martinez’s claims reasonable and sufficiently documented,” the documents state. “The investigation discovered no evidence that Mr. Martinez appropriate any public moneys or used public moneys for any personal or other non-governmental purpose through his submission of these reimbursement claims.”

Martinez responds

Martinez, a registered Republican, tells EastIdahoNews.com all of the allegations are false and he believes the GOP in Jefferson County is working against him.

“I think a lot of it stems back to the (Jefferson County) Republican Central Committee not happy about not having one of their own,” Martinez says. “A lot of these things are conjured up by those that don’t want me in this position.”

Martinez says as commissioner, he has done everything by the book and followed every policy. He says he doesn’t exactly “fit the mold,” and others are doing “whatever possible” to try and get him out of office.

“This is a group effort by the Central Republican Committee and the Republican Women to oust me out of office,” he says. “This has been an ongoing issue from day one that they haven’t wanted me in there.”

In a statement to EastIdahoNews.com, the committee denied any involvement in the complaints against Martinez.

“The Central Committee doesn’t play a role in the Republican primaries other than trying to get good candidates,” Committee Chairman Theron Josephson said.

Martinez says he hopes to move forward following the investigation.

“I hope that we can work together and unite instead of work against each other,” he says. “I want to be more concerned about trying to be united in one cause. That’s to better the people, to better the community and better for our government.”

Martinez is up for re-election for the District 3 seat. He is running against Roger Clark. The primary election is on May 15, with the general election on Nov. 6.