Mexican national to serve 4 years, 6 months for Basin Creek pot grow

A 37-year-old man from Mexico was sentenced Thursday to four years, six months in federal prison and ordered to pay $45,688 to the U.S. Forest Service for an illegal marijuana cultivation operation in the Stanislaus National Forest near Tuolumne, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced.

Eleno Fernandez-garcia, of Michoacán, Mexico, was indicted by a federal grand jury in August last year and pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana related to the operation located in the Basin Creek drainage area.

Fernandez-garcia originally faced up to 10 years to life in prison and agreed to pay more than $45,000 fine when he pleaded guilty, though the U.S. Attorney’s Office noted at the time that his sentence would ultimately be determined at the discretion of the court.

The release on Thursday stated that the cultivation operation contained 9,654 marijuana plants located in the drainage, where Fernandez-garcia was found in possession of pruning shears, two cell phones, and was “covered with marijuana debris.”

Three other people fled from the area, which the release said is near recreational activities and a natural spring used by two companies for bottled water.

Significant damage to the environment was caused by the cultivation operation, within which investigative agents found the pesticide Weevelcide, which contains a lethal restricted-use chemical called aluminum phosphide; two types of rodenticides; 837 pounds of soluble fertilizer; 45.65 gallons of liquid fertilizer; and a dead racoon, according to the release.

The illegal grow site was also in a grazing permit area where cows roamed freely and had access to the plants and chemicals, the release said.

According to the release, the Basin Creek area lies upstream of several species of conservation concern, including the Central Valley steelhead and chinook salmon, both federally protected endangered species, and the yellow-legged frog, a candidate for listing as threatened under both the federal and California endangered species acts.

“This case was a product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) of the California Department of Justice, and the California Fish and Wildlife,” the release said. “Assistance was also provided by the Integral Ecology Research Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the research and conservation of wildlife and their ecosystems.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar prosecuted the case, the release stated.