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January 13, 2023 - FRESNO, Calif. — Carson Shane Wilhite, 43, of Ahwahnee, was sentenced today to seven years and six months in prison for conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana and possessing firearms in furtherance of the conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
Wilhite was also ordered to pay $46,680 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the damage caused by the cultivation operation.
On Sept. 30, 2022, Wilhite pleaded guilty to the charges. According to court documents, Wilhite was involved in a marijuana cultivation operation on public land in the Sierra National Forest adjacent to his residence and at his residence on private land. During the execution of a federal search warrant in the summer of 2019, law enforcement officers located marijuana growing outside of Wilhite’s bedroom and an indoor cultivation room containing live marijuana plants under the residence below Wilhite’s bedroom. The officers also located an additional 2,261 marijuana plants growing on public land adjacent to Wilhite’s residence. In exchange for $3,000 in cash and an additional $300 per month, Wilhite allowed other individuals to pass through his property to the public land so that they could grow marijuana there. Upon harvest, he was going to be paid in marijuana and would receive an additional $10,000. In total, officers located 2,353 marijuana plants.
While serving the warrant in Wilhite’s residence, officers found three firearms, including an AR-15 type assault rifle with no serial number, commonly known as a ghost gun, and a Springfield .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol with a live round chambered. Wilhite advised the officers that he had been carrying the loaded semi-automatic pistol prior to the arrival of law enforcement officers and was armed when he checked on the marijuana in the forest. In a second residence on the property, officers located a safe, which Wilhite controlled, that contained an additional 11 firearms. Marijuana was also growing in pots within the second residence and more marijuana plants were growing in a creek below that residence.
Integral Ecology Research Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the research and conservation of wildlife and their ecosystems, analyzed and documented the environmental damage. According to their report, the cultivation operation was located in the Carter Creek watershed drainage network in the Sierra National Forest and is the home to several rare species, including the California red-legged frog, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and California spotted owl, a candidate species under review for listing under the ESA. Wildlife biologists located significant quantities of fertilizers and hazardous chemicals, including aluminum phosphide (a restricted use rodenticide legal for use only by licensed applicators), methamidophos (an illegal and highly toxic pesticide), and zeta-cypermethrin (an insecticide available over the counter). Leaves of the marijuana plants were splattered with a white substance that tested positive for methamidophos. The grow site contained trash pits and human latrines and over 1,444 pounds of trash and irrigation pipe. Water was diverted from a tributary of Carter Creek to irrigate the marijuana plants. The grow site used an estimated 7.84 million gallons of water annually.
Wilhite has been in custody since July 2021, after violating his pretrial conditions of release by testing positive for methamphetamine on three occasions.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service; the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; the Madera Narcotic Enforcement Team (MADNET), a task force consisting of law enforcement officers of the Madera County Sheriff’s Office; the California Department of Justice; the Madera Police Department; the Chowchilla Police Department; the California Highway Patrol; the Madera County District Attorney’s Office; the Madera County Probation Department; and the Madera County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar prosecuted the case.
Source: DOJ Release
