FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
December 12, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-cr-200-AWI

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and U.S. Forest Service Special Agent in Charge Scott Harris announced that Carlos Alcaras-Cuevas, 26, of Michoacán, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

            According to his plea agreement, Alcaras-Cuevas was responsible for planting and cultivating approximately 11,105 marijuana plants at a grow site in Mariposa County within the Stanislaus National Forest.

            Co-defendant Jesus C. Garcia, aka Antonio Cuevas-Corio, 53, also of Michoacán, Mexico, pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy last month and is scheduled for sentencing on January 23, 2012.

            Both Alcaras-Cuevas and Garcia have been in custody since May 26, 2011, after having been ordered detained as a flight risk and danger to the community.

            Alcaras-Cuevas is scheduled for sentencing on February 21, 2012, before Chief U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. He faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $10 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.

            The case was investigated by the U.S. Forest Service and Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

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