FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
November 21, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:09-cr-339-OWW

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Jesus Duran, aka Ramon Sanchez, 45, formerly of Orosi, was sentenced today to 11 years and three months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute approximately 49,206 marijuana plants grown in the Sierra National Forest and valued at more than $43 million. Duran was also ordered to pay $25,941 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the costs of removing more than 7,500 pounds of debris generated at the cultivation site.

            According to court documents, Duran and Miguel Gomez-Gomez, 26, formerly of Dinuba, set up and sustained a marijuana cultivation operation in the Rock Creek area of the Sierra National Forest. Court records indicate that in 2005 Duran was convicted in federal court in San Jose of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. After he was sentenced in that case to  seven years and three months in prison, he became a fugitive until his apprehension in this case.

            Gomez-Gomez has pleaded not guilty and is next scheduled to appear in federal court for a status conference on March 5, 2012. The charges against him are only allegations, and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

            This case is the product of an investigation by the Central Valley Marijuana Investigation Team, which consists of agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and the Fresno County and Tulare County Sheriffs’ Offices. The investigation was also conducted in conjunction with Operation Save Our Sierra (SOS), a multi-agency marijuana eradication effort spearheaded in 2009 by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, which ultimately resulted in the removal of approximately 423,953 marijuana plants from public lands in primarily Fresno County. Assistant United States Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting the case.

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