Mar. 13—The Corning Police Department, Red Bluff Police Department and Tehama County Sheriff's Office took part in an investigation that resulted in the arrest and court sentencing of a Mexican national found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and depredation of public lands and resources in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest within Tehama County.

Agustin Cruz-Sanchez, 34, of Mexico was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the U.S. District Court in Sacramento on Thursday and ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to the United States, according to U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.

Cruz-Sanchez allegedly lived and worked at the illegal marijuana grow site from April through August 2018, along with co-defendant Abraham De Los Santos-Sanchez. At the site, they illegally grew, processed and harvested marijuana, along with alleged off-site leader of the operation, Fidel Sanchez-Cruz, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Santos-Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and on June 18, 2020, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23 by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

Sanchez-Cruz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, manufacture of marijuana, and depredation of public lands and resources in U.S. District Court on May 19, 2022.

Law enforcement served a search warrant at the grow site on Aug. 17, 2018, where they eradicated 6,575 pot plants and dismantled a marijuana processing and harvesting operation, reported Department of Justice Public Affairs Officer Lauren Horwood.

Officials said the pot grow's proceeds had a potential street value of more than $1.5 million, an amount expected to have been shared between Cruz-Sanchez, Santos-Sanchez and Sanchez-Cruz.

In addition to the marijuana seized at the site, law enforcement also located a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun with its serial number removed along a route through the mountains reportedly used by Cruz-Sanchez to flee the arrival of law enforcement, Horwood reported.

In front of a tent allegedly used by Cruz-Santos, officers allegedly located pellet rifles, a loaded Smith & Wesson ammunition magazine, cartridge, and inside the tent photographs and videos on Cruz-Sanchez's cell phone showing him and Santos-Sanchez posing with the weapons, the Department of Justice said.

Horwood said environmental damage to the forest from the grow site was analyzed and documented by the nonprofit organization Integral Ecology Research Center, which found and documented extensive environmental damage, including the use and disposal of bottles of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals, such as carbofuran, a toxic pesticide that is banned in the United States.

Makeshift reservoirs and a large network of plastic irrigation lines were also found and eradicated at the illegal operation, where an environmental assessment concluded that more than 14.25 million gallons of water were illegally diverted at the grow site, she added.

In addition to local law enforcement's participation on the case, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Highway Patrol, California Department of Justice — North State Marijuana Investigation Team, and Trinity County Sheriff's Office took part in the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney David W. Spencer prosecuting the case.