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

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Derek Hoyt, formerly of Zephyr, Nev. and Livermore, Calif., charging him with cultivating and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute it.

            The indictment alleges that during February 2012, Hoyt grew over 1,000 marijuana plants. According to other court documents, the marijuana plants were found in a commercial space in Oakdale that Hoyt had leased. Hoyt was selling the marijuana to storefronts for $1,500 to $2,500 per pound.
            This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, and the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency. Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Servatius is prosecuting the case.

            The maximum penalty for cultivating and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute is life in prison. The actual sentence, if convicted, 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 charge is only an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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