A man who admitted to tampering with a witness possessing information about a fatal hit-and-run in St. Louis pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal gun charge.
Martez D. Lindsey, 31, of St. Louis County, Missouri, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. As part of his plea, Lindsey acknowledged that during an investigation into a fatal hit-and-run, detectives conducted a court-sanctioned search of Lindsey’s apartment on April 25, 2023. In Lindsey’s bedroom, they discovered a stolen Taurus G3 pistol, 0.53 grams of cocaine base, 0.33 grams of methamphetamine, 1.14 grams of marijuana, a digital scale, and $1,370 in cash. Lindsey conceded that, as an individual convicted of multiple felonies, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
To avoid detention after his arrest on the federal charge, Lindsey approached a key witness in the hit-and-run case, pressuring her to withdraw her initial report to the police. He urged her to claim that she was deceived or had fabricated a story because she was angry at him, according to the plea agreement. Lindsey believed her statement was the “only proof they had,” as stated in the plea. The witness, an ex-girlfriend, had previously experienced Lindsey throwing a brick through her vehicle’s rear window and igniting a firework that shattered the front window.
Lindsey’s sentencing is scheduled for March 13, 2024. The charge entails a possible penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone is prosecuting the case.
