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Press Release

Two Men Sentenced to Prison Marijuana Cultivation Operation that Damaged Sequoia National Forest

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California

FRESNO, Calif. — Senior United States District Judge Anthony Antonio W. Ishii sentenced Antonio Garcia-Villa (Garcia), 46, to seven years in prison and Uriel Silva-Garcia (Silva), 24, to six years and six months in prison for conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana and possessing firearms in furtherance of a large-scale cultivation operation near Little Poso Creek in the Sequoia National Forest, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Both men pleaded guilty last fall. According to court documents, the defendants were paid to tend more than about 8,500 marijuana plants found at the grow site. To facilitate the cultivation activities, they possessed a loaded rifle and handgun. The cultivation activities caused extensive damage to the public land and natural resources. Native trees and plants were cut down and steep hillsides were terraced to plant the marijuana. Pesticides, including Malathion, fertilizer, water lines, trash, clothing and camping equipment were scattered throughout the site. Judge Ishii ordered the men to pay $4,267 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service to cover the cost of cleaning up the site.  Both defendants are from Michoacan, Mexico.

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

Updated January 19, 2016

Topic
Drug Trafficking
Press Release Number: 1:15-cr-159-AWI