A former Phoenix police officer is now behind bars after pleading guilty Friday to two counts of sexual abuse for incidents that occurred while he was on duty in March 2022. At the hearing, the judge ordered him taken into custody without bond. He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on May 1, when a judge will set his prison term.
As reported by ABC15 Arizona, 34-year-old Michael Feliciano Martinez agreed to a plea deal Friday, admitting two counts of sexual abuse tied to separate searches while he was assigned to the Cactus Park precinct. According to the outlet, the deal calls for some prison time and at least 10 years of probation, with a presumptive sentence of about 1.5 years for the charge. By the end of the hearing, Martinez was removed from the courtroom in handcuffs, and a judge ordered him held without bond.
Connection to a 2022 homicide investigation
Reporting by AZFamily shows Martinez resigned in October 2022 after an arrest for solicitation, and that internal police records named him as one of the last people to see 39-year-old sex worker Jennifer Beede, who was found dead inside a suitcase in north Phoenix. AZFamily says hotel surveillance and police interviews helped investigators tie Martinez to contacts who have since been charged in Beede’s killing, though Martinez himself has not been charged in the homicide. Those revelations prompted renewed scrutiny of department record-keeping and administrative oversight during the 2022 probe.
What victims told investigators
According to ABC15 Arizona, one woman said Martinez stopped her at a hotel on March 31, 2022, removed pills from her pocket and touched her genital area during an official search. Another woman told detectives she was searched and groped in a laundromat parking lot on March 23 or 24, 2022, but did not report the incident until months later, after seeing Martinez on television in connection with the prostitution arrest. Those two reports formed the basis of the criminal case he has now pleaded guilty to.
Legal next steps
Martinez faces a formal sentencing hearing on May 1, when a judge will determine his prison term under the plea agreement and finalize the probation conditions. The plea will become part of the public court record and could influence any related civil claims by the survivors.
