FOREST MARIJUANA CULTIVATION SUPPLIER PLEADS GUILTY  (press release Department of Justice) 

FRESNO, Calif. — Javier Rios Morales, 25, of Jalisco, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to

conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 3,405 marijuana

plants and 350 pounds of processed marijuana seized from a grow site in Inyo National

Forest, announced United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.

According to court documents, U.S. Forest Service agents found a marijuana

cultivation operation in the Hogback Creek area of the Inyo National Forest. They set up

trail cameras and photographed Rios making supply drops at a drop point to the site. Rios

also picked up processed marijuana from the site. One of the load vehicles was tracked to

several stash houses in Riverside County. Ultimately, agents executed four search warrants

at the grow site and three residences in Riverside County.

Agents seized 3,405 marijuana plants, 350 pounds of processed marijuana, digital

scales, highly toxic and illegal rodenticides, and 2,200 pounds of trash from the Hogback

Creek grow site. In pleading guilty, Rios agreed to pay $6,572.14 to the U.S. Forest Service

for removal and dumping fees associated with eradication of the site. Agents in Riverside

County seized two pounds of methamphetamine, a methamphetamine laboratory, five

firearms, $10,000 in cash, and two pounds of marijuana from a residence in Moreno Valley.

Agents seized another 450 marijuana plants and marijuana cultivation at a stash house in

Homeland. At another stash house in Romoland, they seized a firearm, marijuana shake and

residue, and shipping labels consistent with the shipment of marijuana to Chicago.

Rios is scheduled for sentencing on April 14, 2014, by United States District Judge

Lawrence J. O’Neill. He faces a sentence of five years to 40 years in prison and a $5 million

fine. He is also subject to deportation to Mexico, upon completion of any prison term. 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.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE)

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, and Riverside County

Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Karen A. Escob