Santa Ysabel underground-grow builder sentenced to five years
Damien Andrews, 34, was sentenced to five years in federal prison on 3 August 2007 over a clandestine underground marijuana operation beneath his Santa Ysabel log cabin, reached by a hidden elevator and a 65-foot tunnel, where agents had seized 454 plants in March. He forfeited the 39-acre property and two houses, and faces deportation to Canada.
🇺🇸 Santa Ysabel, San Diego County, California · California, United States
Damien Anthony Andrews, 34, of Encinitas was sentenced to five years in
federal prison on 3 August 2007 by US District Judge Dana Sabraw for the
clandestine marijuana operation beneath his log cabin in Santa Ysabel.[1]He had pleaded guilty in May to manufacturing marijuana and to money
laundering charges, after admitting in a plea deal that he conspired to
produce more than 100 marijuana plants.[2][1]
Federal agents had arrested Andrews on 28 March 2007 and searched his
39-acre Santa Ysabel property, finding 454 marijuana plants in underground
rooms reached by an elevator concealed in a garage closet and a 4-foot-wide,
65-foot-long tunnel.[2]The rooms, two 20-by-20-foot chambers with 8- and
12-foot ceilings, had irrigation, lighting, electrical and ventilation
systems with steel roof beams, while the cabin carried mounted infrared
cameras with night-vision capability.[3][2]Andrews had bought the land
without permits for the cabin and garage, and agents said tips about the
operation had reached them as early as 2004.[3][2]
Andrews agreed to forfeit the Santa Ysabel property, an Oceanside home and
his Encinitas-area residence to the government.[2][1]A permanent legal
resident originally from Canada, he will be deported after serving his
sentence.[1]Two alleged accomplices were also charged: Anthony Martin
Hillerby, 40, who tended 233 plants at an Encinitas house as Andrews’
sub-tenant and had pleaded guilty, and Sean Daniel Smith, 35, charged with
conspiracy.[3][2][1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
All three opened pages reprint San Diego newsroom originals, so no independent second newsroom account beyond the wire coverage was found.
The plea account values the surrendered Encinitas home at $1.4 million while the sentencing account describes a $1.3 million beach-area home; the report uses neither figure.
Anthony Hillerby had pleaded guilty with sentencing set for 31 August 2007, and the charge against Sean Smith was still pending; neither outcome is recorded here.
A DEA photograph of the property is mentioned in the discovery account but no direct image address could be recovered from the opened pages.
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.
