Marion County deputies say a convicted sex offender turned his release from prison into a month-long shuffle of bad addresses, gas stations, and excuses — until the Sheriff’s Office finally shut the music off.
Martin Palmatier, 29, walked out of Jackson Correctional on August 7 with a clear set of rules: register his address within 48 hours and stay at least 1,500 feet from schools, parks, or daycares. He even signed paperwork confirming he understood it. But according to detectives, Palmatier spent the next several weeks collecting “not a good address” stamps like a tourist with a broken GPS.
First, he tried listing himself as a transient in the woods near Kid City USA daycare. No good. Then he offered an Ocklawaha house near Forest Lake Park’s playground. Also no good. He admitted staying at his sister’s South Pine Avenue mobile home — which just happens to sit close to multiple preschools. Still no good. Finally, Palmatier marched to the DMV and had “3040 S. Pine Avenue” slapped on his ID — better known as the Racetrac gas station. Detectives didn’t buy it.
By early September, managers at his sister’s mobile home park confirmed Palmatier had been staying at Lot 49 since mid-August. When confronted, he told deputies he biked seven hours back and forth from Ocklawaha every day, a claim about as believable as his Racetrac residency. Asked why he told his sister he was properly registered, Palmatier reportedly said he “did not want to disappoint her.”
Detectives also discovered Palmatier carried two smartphones, including one with Snapchat, neither of which he had disclosed as required. That portion is now a separate investigation.
Palmatier was arrested September 10 and booked into the Marion County Jail with no bond. Deputies said his pattern was clear: when it came to registration, he kept trying to change the address — but the charges stuck.
