FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
August 29, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:10-cr-00314 OWW

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Eduardo Medina-Mendoza, aka Eduardo Nunez Medina, 49, of Guerrero, Mexico, was sentenced today to three years and 10 months in prison for conspiring to cultivate, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute 18,174 marijuana plants on unimproved land in Coarsegold.

This is the latest conviction stemming from Operation Trident, a multi-agency marijuana enforcement effort targeting Madera, Fresno, and Tulare Counties in 2009 and 2010. To date, in the Eastern District of California, Operation Trident has resulted in the eradication of approximately 663,898 marijuana plants, primarily from public lands in the Sierra foothills and mountains, and the conviction of 65 defendants who were charged federally.

The case is the product of a Madera Narcotic Enforcement Team (MADNET) investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Madera County Sheriff’s Department, and Madera County Regional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), operating under the umbrella of Operation Trident. Other agencies participating in Operation Trident include the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar prosecuted the case.

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