Suspected pot growers in the Oroville area enter pleas in court. Three suspected drug cartel growers entered no-contest pleas, Wednesday in a Butte County courtroom, to felony charges of cultivating thousands of marijuana plants. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey noted that normally under Proposition 64 those felony charges would now become misdemeanors, but because the growers violated environmental laws the cultivation will remain felonies.
Two of the men 22-year-old Genaro Uristegui of Fresno and Andres 39-year-old Galarza-Zendejas were charged for marijuana cultivation and diverting water at two properties on Harlan Avenue near the Oroville Airport. They were also charged with dumping gasoline in a stream that they made to divert the water.
Another man, 40-year-old Eliceo Morales of Mexico was charged for marijuana cultivation and diverting water at a property on Rocky Top Road off of Cherokee Road.
According to a press release from the Butte County District Attorney's Office, all three men will be sentenced on June 28th.
