Two get prison for Groveland pot grow

Two Mexican nationals were sentenced to prison Monday after pleading guilty to marijuana cultivation in Groveland.

Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge William Polley sentenced Fidencio Castro-Meza, 29, and Jose Guadalupe Castro-Meza, 35, to one year, four months in state prison.
 

Both will have to register as narcotics offenders and have jail credits of 73 days each.

On Sept. 8, the two men were arrested by Tuolumne Narcotics Team agents, jail records show.

Acting on a tip from community members, TNT agents, with the assistance of Department of Justice Campaign Against Marijuana Planting agents and Bureau of Land Management law enforcement, eradicated 799 plants from the 9700 block of Jackass Creek Road in the Groveland area, TNT Commander Sgt. Craig Davis has said.

Later that day, TNT agents and BLM officers served a search warrant at a nearby residence, also on the 9700 block of Jackass Creek Road, and took two illegal aliens into custody on suspicion of marijuana cultivation, Davis said.

Items found on the property the Mexican nationals were arrested at were consistent with items located in the cultivation site, Davis said.

The men first pleaded not guilty but changed their pleas Monday as part of an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office.

According to their lawyers, Public Defender Robert Price and attorney Patrick Angermiller, the men preferred to be sent to prison rather than going through the Probation Department.