FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
March 5, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11CR358 AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that  Aurelio Anaya-Sanchez, 36, of Lamont, California, entered a guilty plea to conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana grown on public land.

In pleading guilty, Anaya-Sanchez admitted that he was involved in the cultivation of marijuana  in the Sentinel Peak area of the Sequoia National Forest in Tulare County.  At the cultivation site, law enforcement agents found evidence of over 16,205 marijuana plants, over 850 pounds of processed marijuana, and three firearms, including an assault rifle.  Native vegetation was cut to make room for the marijuana plants.  Trash and fertilizer containers were scattered throughout the site, including in a flowing stream.  Anaya-Sanchez has agreed to pay restitution to the U.S. Forest Service in the amount of $3,686.54 for the cost of cleaning up the land and natural resources damaged by the illicit cultivation operation.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Land Management, Southern Tri-County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), California Department of Justice Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), California Department of Fish and Game, and Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

Anaya-Sanchez, who was previously ordered detained as a flight risk, is scheduled for sentencing on May 14, 2012, before Chief U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii.  He faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum prison term of life, along with a fine of up to $10,000, 000.   However, the actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the Court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables, and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.

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