Dollar General manager jailed for embezzlement

NIXON — The store manager of Dollar General faces felony charges after police said he stole more than $17,000 in cash over the past two-and-a-half years.

Officer Jerry Airola, who investigated the theft, said that Julian Martinez, who was the store’s manager, was arrested after admitting to pocketing cash deposits.

“About a week ago, I had the store’s regional loss prevention manager report $17,116.23 was missing out of the store’s account,” Airola said. “They had been tracing it for a while after they noticed the deposits had been coming late.”

Airola noted that all Dollar General stores are required to report their deposit amounts to the home office on a daily basis. This store uses Commerce Bank in Stockdale.

Airola said that during the last two years, loss prevention had been asking Martinez why the deposits were taking so long, and Martinez said it was because the bank was slow. The new loss prevention manager scheduled a meeting with Martinez at his store, but Martinez didn’t show up for work that day. Loss prevention then met with Airola and explained to him that the deposits weren’t matching up.

Airola went to Martinez’s home in Smiley, where Martinez admitted to stealing the money.

“We talked for a while, and he gave me a full confession,” Airola said. “He said in January of 2013 he was intending to deliver a $10,000 deposit to the bank, and stopped at a gas station in Stockdale. He said someone stole the cash from his car while he was getting gas.”

Airola said it is a violation of company policy to make any stops during a cash drop, and that Martinez was aware of that.

“He said because of that, he knew he was going to lose his job, so he didn’t report it. He just thought he would find a way to [replace] it,” Airola said.

Airola said Martinez was supposed to make a $10,000 deposit on a certain day, but because he didn’t have it, he would wait until he did. In the process, Martinez found himself unable to catch up and make deposits on time.

“It’s called floating,” Airola said. “So now he’s floating a deposit, and over the years he said he put some money back. But when he fell hard times, he would take money back out. Within 30 months, it went from $10,000 to $17,000.”

After speaking with the loss prevention manager, Airola obtained an arrest warrant for Martinez and arrested him at his home on Sept. 8. Martinez was taken to the Gonzales County Jail and charged with theft over $1,500 less than $20,000. Airola said the charge is also known as theft by embezzlement, which is a state jail felony.