Marijuana
Credit: NIDA

May 24, 2017 - FRESNO, Calif. — One defendant pleaded guilty and two others were sentenced on Monday for their involvement in large-scale marijuana cultivation operations in the Sequoia National Forest, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Guilty Plea to Cultivation Conspiracy in National Forest
(1:16-cr-106 LJO)

Abel Toledo-Villa, 35, of Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 3,850 plants found in the Sequoia National Forest in Kern County. In pleading guilty, Toledo acknowledged that he had left the area after law enforcement agents entered the grow site. He was later found in a vehicle that contained about 8.5 pounds of processed marijuana, fertilizer, a rifle, and 106 rounds of ammunition. He agreed to pay $5,233 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the damage he caused to public land and natural resources.

Toledo-Villa is scheduled for sentencing on August 14, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. Toledo-Villa faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years in prison for the drug conspiracy, and up to a $5 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) , the Southern Tri‑County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, the California Department of Justice’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Fontana Police Department, and the Victorville Police Department.

Sentencing in Giant Sequoia National Monument Cultivation Operation
(1:16-cr-156 DAD)

Following their guilty pleas earlier this year, Audencio Pineda-Gaona, 37, and Candelario Jimenez-Ramirez, aka Candelario Rodriguez-Jimenez, 55, both of Mexico, were each sentenced to two and a half years in prison for conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana grown on forest land in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in Tulare County. They were each also ordered to pay $5,252 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service to cover the cost of cleaning up the grow site.

According to court documents, the defendants and several other men were found trimming marijuana buds in the grow site in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in Tulare County. As the agents approached, the men fled. The defendants were apprehended, and agents found 5,707 marijuana plants and 200 pounds of processed marijuana. They also found a large box of 9 mm ammunition, a holster and a shoulder rig for a 9 mm handgun.

The marijuana cultivation operation caused extensive damage to the land and natural resources. Native trees and shrubs had been cut down to make room for the marijuana plants. Water had been diverted from a tributary stream of the Kern River, which supports Kern River rainbow trout, a “Species of Special Concern” in the state of California.. Agents also found harmful banned pesticides and large amounts of trash.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Justice’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting both cases.
Source: DOJ