FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
September 22, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that a federal grand jury in Sacramento returned an indictment against Daniel Escolar Romero, 37, of Michoacán, Mexico, charging him with the cultivation of more than 1,000 marijuana plants.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Forest Service, the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department, and the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorney Paul A. Hemesath is prosecuting the case.

According to court documents and proceedings, Romero was responsible for planting and cultivating approximately 3,154 marijuana plants at a grow site in Trinity County within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Romero has been ordered detained as a flight risk and danger to the community. He is next scheduled to appear in U.S. Magistrate Court in Sacramento on September 23, 2011, when he will be arraigned on the charges.

If convicted, Romero faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum term of life in prison, as well as a fine of up to $10 million. 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.

The charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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