In Fresno, California, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Heriberto Sicairos-Quintero, 55, of Gustine, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manufacturing marijuana, aiding and abetting the manufacture of marijuana, and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. A Fresno jury convicted Sicairos-Quintero on December 11, 2009.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, with assistance from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Sicairos-Quintero was apprehended by federal and state officers on July 13, 2009, in the Shaver Lake/Jose Basin area of the Sierra National Forest in Fresno County. At trial, officers testified that while they were leading a volunteer team toward a marijuana site for reclamation and cleanup, they unexpectedly saw a live marijuana cultivation site across another canyon. Officers went to investigate and apprehended Sicairos-Quintero on a trail just above a cultivation site with over 7,000 marijuana plants. Sicairos-Quintero had a loaded handgun in his waistband and said he had been paid to cook at the grow for 30 days. Officers also found numerous firearms, cultivating materials, fertilizers, irrigation hoses, and trash at the site that had to be airlifted out of the area.
United States Attorney Wagner stated, “Over the past several years, large scale marijuana production on public lands in California has escalated at a rapid pace. The rampant cultivation of marijuana on remote public lands poses significant problems for the law enforcement community and threatens the public. Many growers have firearms and other dangerous weapons, and damage ecosystems with excessive amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and rodenticides, by diverting natural water sources, and by dumping trash and waste.”
This case is the product of Operation Save Our Sierras (SOS), a multi-agency marijuana eradication effort in Fresno County in the summer of 2009 that resulted the eradication of over 423,000 marijuana plants on public land in less than two weeks. Operation SOS was sponsored by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy and led by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office with the participation of numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, National Park Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, California National Guard, California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and California Department of Fish and Game.
If you have been charged with a federal crime of cultivating marijuana, its important that you contact an experienced California federal marijuana cultivation lawyer immediately. There are severe consequences when charged with a federal marijuana cultivation violation. You will need assistance from our experienced attorneys immediately, to ensure that your case is being handled as it should. You have many options in your federal criminal defense, including challenging the arrest procedure. Taking the exact procedural steps in a federal arrest is a requirement that federal law enforcement must follow. If they have not done so, our office may be able to have your charges reduced or possibly even dismissed. At the Marks and Brooklier you will find strong advocates who can aggressively defend you against any federal drug violations charges. Contact us today for a free consultation 24/7, immediate response.