'King Steve' sentenced for head-shaving, assault

Updated: June 30, 2012 - 12:05 AM

Known gang member also faces drug, firearm charges.

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A St. Paul man who goes by the nickname "King Steve" was sentenced Friday to 3¼ years in prison for an assault this year that left a woman injured and her head shaven.

Authorities say Steven F. Martinez, 49, is a known gang member with a penchant for shaving the heads of men and women who cross him.

According to the charges, Martinez forced the woman to perform oral sex and then beat her when she failed to do it to his satisfaction. She said he used barber's clippers to partly shave her head. Then, he ordered her to shave it completely -- or he would kill her, she alleged.

The woman, who said she knew Martinez as King Steve, had choke marks on her neck, large bruises around her eyes and a shaved head when she encountered police at a market near his Summit-University area apartment.

Martinez is scheduled to return to Ramsey County District Court on July 9 for a pretrial hearing in a case alleging that he possessed methamphetamine and was a felon in possession of a firearm.

Charges filed June 1 say authorities found the drugs on Martinez on Dec. 14 after witnessing what appeared to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction between him and another man at a gas station at 7th and Wall streets in St. Paul.

Later, authorities found a gun under Martinez's couch during a search of his apartment, the charges say. Also recovered during the search was a document titled King Steve.

ANTHONY LONETREE