Repeat Marijuana Grower Pleads Guilty to 2013 Grow

FRESNO, Calif. —Phloch Ouk, 46, of San Jose, pleaded guilty today to growing 50 or more marijuana plants, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Ouk was arrested on Aug. 1, 2013, in Fresno County. He was one of about 60 people found on a rural parcel of land on E. Kings Canyon Road where approximately 31,500 marijuana plants were being grown. At that time, Ouk claimed he was growing 99 marijuana plants for personal medicinal purposes. In his guilty plea today, Ouk admitted growing marijuana in 2013 and also admitted that in 2012 law enforcement agents had contacted him at a different Fresno County marijuana cultivation site and advised him that marijuana cultivation was prohibited by federal law.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rooney is prosecuting the case.

Ouk is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on Nov. 10, 2014. Ouk faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will 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.