FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Monday, July 23, 2012
Docket #: 1:11-cr-358 AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — Juan Luis Quintero-Pimentel, 21, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii to three years and 10 months in prison for conspiring to grow, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana grown on public land, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Upon completion of his prison term, Quintero-Pimentel is subject to deportation to Mexico.

According to court documents, Quintero-Pimentel was involved in growing marijuana in the Sentinel Peak area of the Sequoia National Forest in Tulare County. At the cultivation site, law enforcement agents found evidence of more than 16,205 marijuana plants, more than 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. Quintero-Pimentel was ordered to pay $3,686 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the cost of cleanup.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 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 Department. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar prosecuted the case.

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