Mexican National Indicted for Growing Marijuana in Shasta Trinity National Forest

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Gilberto Garcia-Garcia, 26, of Mexico, charging him with conspiring to manufacture and manufacturing at least 1,000 marijuana plants and depredation of public lands and resources, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, law enforcement officers who were conducting aerial surveillance spotted two large marijuana cultivation sites near the Big French Creek Road in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, in Trinity County. Law enforcement hiked into the area and observed Garcia-Garcia and another man for approximately 50 minutes as they tended marijuana plants and harvested marijuana. The two men fled when they saw the officers; only Garcia-Garcia was apprehended. Officers counted 11,223 marijuana plants at the cultivation site. The plants were covered in a white powder that appeared to be carbofuran, an insecticide that is highly toxic to both humans and wildlife.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Trinity County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David W. Spencer is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Garcia-Garcia faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine for each of the marijuana cultivation counts. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the depredation of public lands and resources count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.