Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Jose Luis Arreola-Villa, 41
Constantino Cervantes-Lopez, 28
Antonio Garcia-Huitron, 24
Juan Gonzalez-Olvera, 28
Jose Guadarrama-Osorio, 22
Lucas Guadarrama-Osorio, 18
Guadalupe Linares-Cervantes, 30
Jose Martinez-Sandoval, 42
Jose Santos Martinez-Sandoval, 37
Natividad Martinez-Sandoval, 30
Armando Mata-Chavez, 23
Rigoberto Maulion-Arreola, 30
Huber Melchor-Cabrera, 28
Sergio Perez-Serrato, 21
Raul Ramirez-Aguilar, 19
Oscar Leobardo Rodriguez-Ayala, 26
Israel Sallavedra-Pulido, 29
Salvador Valenzuela-Arias, 38
Isidro Vargas-Tellez, 43
Eugenio Villa-Lopez, 43
With the exception of Arreola-Villa, all of the defendants are citizens of Mexico.
SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty-one people were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday in connection with a mass arrest at a marijuana grow site near St. George on July 16.
All 21 are charged with conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance by cultivation, manufacture of a controlled substance by cultivation, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
The cultivation site was raided in a coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Thirty-seven individuals were arrested at the site, and more than 13,000 marijuana plants were removed, law enforcement officials said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is leading the ongoing investigation.
All of those charged are in custody and are scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Salt Lake City.
The potential maximum penalty for the drug counts is life in prison, with a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. The firearm count carries a mandatory five-year sentence, which would run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.
Email:lbrubaker@desnews.com
