Department of Justice
A citizen of Mexico will face two and a half years in California prison for illegally growing marijuana on US Forest Service land.
37-year-old Lukis Madrigal-Reyes was also ordered to pay $48,000 for the damage the illegal cultivation did to the public lands.
2,307 marijuana plants were located at an illegal grow in an isolated area of the Sierra National Forest. Madrigal was spotted carrying fertilizer to the grow site and federal agents chased him down the side of a mountain and apprehended him. The cultivation site was near the Chiquito Creek watershed and investigators determined that 8.5 million gallons of water had been diverted from a nearby natural stream to irrigate the marijuana plants.
A second person was also arrested in connection, 24-year-old Lester Eduardo Cardenas Flores, also of Mexico. He faces much stiffer penalties for his involvement, a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. He will be sentenced on November 15.
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