FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
January 9, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:10-cr-00313 LJO

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Ramon Torres-Arreola, aka Ramon Torrez, aka Alejandro Torres-Arida, 39, formerly of Livingston, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

According to his plea agreement, in 2010, Torres-Arreola conspired with Juan Garcia‑Galvez, aka Juan Galviz Garcia, 38, of Merced, Praxedis Barragan, 40, of Winton, and others to grow 3,451 marijuana plants on private ranch land in the Bailey Flats area of Raymond in Madera County. According to court documents, the same area has been the site of other marijuana cultivation operations in the past. In 2009, law enforcement officers eradicated approximately 1,228 marijuana plants and, in 2011, they eradicated 3,847 marijuana plants from there.

Torres-Arreola faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a $4 million fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on April 4, 2012.

Co-defendants Garcia-Galvez and Barragan have entered not guilty pleas and are scheduled for trial by jury on March 13, 2012. If convicted, all three men are subject to deportation to Mexico. The charges against them are only allegations and they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is the product of an investigation conducted under the umbrella of Operation Trident by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Madera County Narcotic Enforcement Team (MADNET), and the Madera SWAT team. Operation Trident was a multi-agency marijuana enforcement effort in Madera, Fresno, and Tulare Counties in 2009 and 2010. Torres-Arreola’s guilty plea represents the 68th federal conviction resulting from Operation Trident, which focused on and succeeded in eradicating approximately 663,898 marijuana plants primarily from public lands in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills in the Eastern District of California. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting the case.

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