(KSEE) — The Department Of Justice has announced that a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment today against Marco Lizandro Duarte-Beltran, aka Marco Antonio Duarte-Beltran, 32, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, charging him with conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, damaging public lands and natural resources, being an alien in possession of firearms, and being a previously deported alien found in the United States.
According to court documents, law enforcement officers located 1,865 marijuana plants in the Millwood Creek area of the Sequoia National Forest after a two-month investigation. Duarte-Beltran was arrested at the marijuana cultivation site. He was armed with a loaded revolver and had access to a loaded rifle at his campsite where he was living while growing the marijuana.
The marijuana cultivation operation caused significant damage to the land and natural resources. Native vegetation and tree limbs had been cut and thinned out to make room for the plants. Three areas had been terraced for the campsite. Water had been diverted from a water source on federal land to irrigate the plants. Throughout the grow site, law enforcement officers found irrigation tubing, trash, seed trays, seed pots, fertilizers, and pesticides.
If convicted of the drug conspiracy and manufacturing offense, Duarte-Beltran faces a mandatory minimum statutory penalty of 10 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison, as well as a $10 million fine. The environmental, firearms, and immigration crimes all carry a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
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