United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner
Eastern District of California
Two Fresno Men Charged with Drug Conspiracy
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Lauren Horwood |
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October 20, 2011 |
PHONE: (916) 554-2706 |
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www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae |
usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov |
FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging brothers Shavane Bouasangouane, 43, and Reeney Bouasangouane, 47, both of Fresno, with conspiring to cultivate, distribute, and possess marijuana with intent to distribute it, and cultivating and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute it.
According to court documents, the defendants were involved in the cultivation and processing of more than 800 pounds of marijuana grown at their residence on Armstrong Avenue in Fresno. The defendants indicated to agents that the marijuana belonged to them and was purportedly for their own medicinal use. Law enforcement agents previously found large marijuana cultivation operations at a property in Sanger owned by members of the same family that own the Armstrong property. Both properties are the subject of pending civil forfeiture actions initiated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fresno.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting the criminal case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Jones is handling the civil forfeiture of the properties.
If convicted, Reeney Bouasangouane faces a mandatory minimum prison term of five years in prison, a maximum term of life in prison, and a $2 million fine. Based on prior felony drug convictions, Shavane Bouasangouane faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life in prison, and a $4 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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