FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A former Miccosukee Police officer who was found guilty of forcing a teenage boy and girl to strip naked will begin to serve a 10-year-sentence.
7News cameras captured Michael Martinez as he was handcuffed in a Broward County courtroom, Thursday morning.
Martinez was convicted of extortion in 2019 for forcing two teens to run naked in order to avoid arrest.
The former officer is out of appeals and is set to begin a 10-year sentence.
“One of the victims actually made his way down here today, because he wanted to see this to get some sort of sense of closure,” prosecutor Chris Killoran said.
Now in his 20s, Kyle Shoulta sat directly across from the former officer in court.
During the trial in 2019, Shoulta said he felt he had no choice but to do what he was asked.
“I was given a choice of go to jail or run, so I took the choice to run naked,” he said on the witness stand.
Shoulta and his then-girlfriend Remy Riley were on their way from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale to attend a concert back in 2016. The couple had stopped for gas on Alligator Alley.
When Shoulta ran a red light, Martinez pulled him over. The teens had marijuana and alcohol in the car, but rather than arresting the two, Martinez told them to follow him to a remote area to take off their clothes and run naked.
“I took my pants off. I took my shirt off,” Riley said on the stand. “I kind of looked at him like, ‘Is this enough?’ He’s like, ‘That’s it?’ I turned around from them. I turned away. I took my underwear off. I took my bra off.”
Martinez was found guilty, and now he is headed to prison.
“That is not what I wanted to do. I felt like I had no choice,” Riley said on the stand as she fought back tears. “At 18 years old, I don’t feel like you should know what to do. I felt like that was his job.”
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