Manager of Illegal Cannabis Operation in Northern California Gets 10 Years in Prison
Published on July 18, 2024
A Northern California man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on July 16 and ordered to pay nearly $18,000 in restitution for his role in managing an illegal cannabis grow site in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in 2019. Custodio Ibarra-Nunez, 42, of Merced, was arrested a year later and ultimately found guilty of conspiracy to cultivate marijuana, marijuana cultivation, and depredation of public lands. Between May and July of 2019, he ran an operation that grew more than 4,000 cannabis plants south of Rays Peak on public land, according to court documents. When law enforcement officials raided the site in 2019, Mr. Nunez was not present, but he was later found to be illegally cultivating marijuana with a minor in Merced....