Grower sentenced to 10 years for 1,082 plants in Sequoia National Forest
U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced Marco Lizandro Duarte-Beltran, 34, of Michoacán, Mexico, on 21 September 2020 to 10 years in prison for conspiring to grow marijuana after officers found him tending 1,082 plants in the Millwood Creek area of Sequoia National Forest.
🇺🇸 Millwood Creek, Sequoia National Forest, California · California, United States
Marco Lizandro Duarte-Beltran, a 34-year-old from Michoacán, Mexico, drew a 10-year federal prison
term on 21 September 2020 after U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced him for conspiring to
manufacture and distribute marijuana on public land.[1]Court documents said he had cultivated
1,082 marijuana plants in the Millwood Creek area of Sequoia National Forest for about four months
before officers apprehended him at the site following a two-month investigation.[1]
Armed gardener and forest damage
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Duarte-Beltran wore camouflage and carried a loaded revolver when
arrested.[1]The grow had cut native vegetation, terraced three campsite areas, diverted water from
a federal source, and scattered irrigation tubing, fertilizers, pesticides, and trash through the
site.[1]Judge Drozd ordered $12,644 in restitution to clean up the damage.[1]A guilty-plea
report published before sentencing recorded the same plant count and restitution figure and noted
that the mandatory minimum term was 10 years.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The sentencing release describes environmental damage documented by the Integral Ecology Research Center but does not say how many plants were eradicated at arrest versus left standing.
Duarte-Beltran was armed with a loaded revolver when apprehended; the opened sources do not report shots fired or injuries.
Restitution was set at $12,644 for cleanup; the judgment text opened here does not list co-defendants or deportation orders.
A federal court sentenced Christopher L. Daniels, 47, of Tallahassee, Florida, to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm as a felon. A January 2026 search of his home seized a pound (about 0.45 kg) of marijuana alongside methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, synthetic cathinones and four pistols.
Nigel White was sentenced in Brown County court to 18 years in prison plus 10 years of extended supervision for his role in the August 2024 marijuana deal on Berner Street where Brandon Ramirez was shot dead. White, one of five people charged, had pleaded no contest to felony murder; prosecutors said he drove a getaway vehicle.
Charged 5Sentenced 1Prison 18 years initial confinement and 10 years extended supervisionDeaths 1
A federal judge sentenced Christopher S. Robinson, 31, of Springfield to 15 years in prison for possessing methamphetamine and fentanyl for distribution, a case that began with a May 2024 raid in Jacksonville. Police reported finding 1.8 pounds of cannabis there and charged him with felony cannabis possession with intent to deliver.
Six traffickers were sentenced on 4 November 2026 in the Northern District of West Virginia to a combined 37 years in federal prison for fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking. Officers seized about 68.15 kilograms of marijuana in two of the cases, including 150 pounds at a Keyser duplex, alongside fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.
