FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
April 23, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-cr-305-AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Cirrilo Gutiérrez-Garcia, 25, of Michoacán, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to grow, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana grown on public land.

According to court documents, Gutiérrez-Garcia admitted that he was responsible for watering and caring for approximately 2,953 marijuana plants in the Sequoia National Forest in Kern County. He also acknowledged that damage to the land occurred as a result. Trash, fertilizer, and insecticide containers were found stored within a few feet of a creek. Native vegetation was destroyed to make room for the marijuana plants. Gutiérrez-Garcia also agreed to pay $1,482 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the cost of cleanup.

Gutiérrez-Garcia has been in custody since last fall after a U.S. Magistrate Judge found he was a flight risk and danger to the community. He is scheduled for sentencing on July 9, 2012 before Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. Gutiérrez-Garcia faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum term of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The destruction of lands charge carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kern County Sheriff’s Department, and Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), a multi-agency law enforcement task force composed of local, state and federal agencies organized expressly to eradicate illegal marijuana cultivation and trafficking in California. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

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