Man sentenced to prison in Mariposa marijuana case

A 40-year-old citizen of Mexico was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison for cultivating thousands of marijuana plants on Chowchilla Mountain in Mariposa County, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Juan Pedro Jimenez pleaded guilty late last year to conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana at the large-scale grow site in the Sierra National Forest, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said in a brief news release.

Jimenez was found at the illegal garden on public land in July. Agents removed 6,919 plants and found fertilizer, trash, water lines and propane tanks.

“The cultivation activities caused extensive damage to the land and natural resources,” federal authorities said in the statement. “Native trees and plants were cut down and steep hillsides were terraced to plant the marijuana. Water was diverted from a nearby creek to irrigate the plants.”

The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office worked with the U.S. Forest Service on the investigation. The case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Man sentenced to prison in Mariposa marijuana case."