Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Eight of the 12 people charged in one of the state's largest marijuana-growing operations in Oconto and Menominee counties were ordered by a federal judge on Friday to remain in jail.
Federal Magistrate Judge James Sickel ordered Salvador Montez-Canchola, Raul Juvenal Avila-Rodriguez, Jesus DeLaTorre-Avila, Javier Navarro-Zanagoza, Gustavo Barragan-Mendoza, Jorge Omar Perez-Hipolito, Genaro Avila-Rodriguez and Adalberto Valencia detained in Brown County Jail as their cases are heard. All required the use of an interpreter during their court appearances.
Twelve men are charged with conspiring to distribute and manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officers allege the men are part of a massive marijuana-growing and -processing operation uncovered in Oconto and Menominee counties.
A home at 969 Howard St. in Green Bay is linked to the operation, and authorities executed a search warrant Wednesday.
Only one of the eight men — Adalberto Valencia — is a legal resident of the United States. Sickel said none have ties to the community, and there's a risk they won't reappear in court if released. All the men also are being held because immigration officials could deport them. They are scheduled for Aug. 24 preliminary hearings.
A ninth man — Bernabe J. Nunez-Guzman — was also in court, but his attorney asked for his detention hearing to be pushed to Thursday because there was some confusion over a pretrial interview.
Three more suspects in the case are scheduled for detention hearings Tuesday and preliminary hearings Aug. 26. Uriel Perez-Aljandres, Armando Adame-Alvarado and Jose Luis Sandoval-Mendoza were charged on Thursday.
All but one, Nunez-Guzman, are also charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 100 marijuana plants. According to the criminal complaint, confidential informants told law enforcement officials that Nunez-Guzman facilitated the marijuana-growing operation.
The first charge of conspiring to distribute and manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, up to a $4 million fine and five years to life of supervised release. The second charge carries a penalty of five to 40 years in prison, up to a $2 million fine and four years to life of supervised release.
The charges allege that the men were part of a major marijuana-growing operation in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and Menominee Indian Reservation, where they clear-cut sections of public forestland, planted hundreds of marijuana plants and built drying sheds and shelters to process marijuana on site.
More than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers from more than 20 agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, worked on the case, which took them to 10 or more grow sites. Authorities said Thursday that so far they've harvested about 10,000 marijuana plants, but that more would eventually destroyed
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: greenbaypressgazette.com
Author: Malavika Jagannathan
Copyright: 2010 Green Bay Press Gazette
Contact: Green Bay Press Gazette
Website: Eight men arrested in Oconto, Menominee counties marijuana bust ordered to remain in jail
Federal Magistrate Judge James Sickel ordered Salvador Montez-Canchola, Raul Juvenal Avila-Rodriguez, Jesus DeLaTorre-Avila, Javier Navarro-Zanagoza, Gustavo Barragan-Mendoza, Jorge Omar Perez-Hipolito, Genaro Avila-Rodriguez and Adalberto Valencia detained in Brown County Jail as their cases are heard. All required the use of an interpreter during their court appearances.
Twelve men are charged with conspiring to distribute and manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officers allege the men are part of a massive marijuana-growing and -processing operation uncovered in Oconto and Menominee counties.
A home at 969 Howard St. in Green Bay is linked to the operation, and authorities executed a search warrant Wednesday.
Only one of the eight men — Adalberto Valencia — is a legal resident of the United States. Sickel said none have ties to the community, and there's a risk they won't reappear in court if released. All the men also are being held because immigration officials could deport them. They are scheduled for Aug. 24 preliminary hearings.
A ninth man — Bernabe J. Nunez-Guzman — was also in court, but his attorney asked for his detention hearing to be pushed to Thursday because there was some confusion over a pretrial interview.
Three more suspects in the case are scheduled for detention hearings Tuesday and preliminary hearings Aug. 26. Uriel Perez-Aljandres, Armando Adame-Alvarado and Jose Luis Sandoval-Mendoza were charged on Thursday.
All but one, Nunez-Guzman, are also charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 100 marijuana plants. According to the criminal complaint, confidential informants told law enforcement officials that Nunez-Guzman facilitated the marijuana-growing operation.
The first charge of conspiring to distribute and manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, up to a $4 million fine and five years to life of supervised release. The second charge carries a penalty of five to 40 years in prison, up to a $2 million fine and four years to life of supervised release.
The charges allege that the men were part of a major marijuana-growing operation in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and Menominee Indian Reservation, where they clear-cut sections of public forestland, planted hundreds of marijuana plants and built drying sheds and shelters to process marijuana on site.
More than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers from more than 20 agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, worked on the case, which took them to 10 or more grow sites. Authorities said Thursday that so far they've harvested about 10,000 marijuana plants, but that more would eventually destroyed
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: greenbaypressgazette.com
Author: Malavika Jagannathan
Copyright: 2010 Green Bay Press Gazette
Contact: Green Bay Press Gazette
Website: Eight men arrested in Oconto, Menominee counties marijuana bust ordered to remain in jail
