Medford, Ore. - On January 14, 2008, Miguel Madrigal-Rosales, 21, was sentenced by the U.S. District Court in Medford to ten years in federal prison for manufacturing 1000 or more marijuana plants and illegal alien in possession of a firearm. These charges resulted after the Josephine Interagency Narcotics Team (JOINT) discovered a 1,847 plant marijuana grow on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land off Powell Creek Road in Williams, Josephine County, Oregon. Madrigal-Rosales was arrested in the marijuana garden, armed with a .22 semi-automatic rifle and a .22 pistol. A third .22 semi-automatic hand gun was discovered at the site. JOINT Detective Joshua White estimated the crop value at over $1.8 million. Madrigal-Rosales did not qualify for a reduction in the ten mandatory minimum sentence because he possessed firearms in connection with the offense.
Madrigal-Rosales is the last of seven illegal aliens convicted in a series of related marijuana grows seized in August and September 2006 in a coordinated investigation by JOINT, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the BLM, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last fall, Bernardo Ortiz-Mendoza, 22, and Crisanto Alvarez-Mendoza, 25, were each sentenced to 41 months federal prison for a 1,253 plant marijuana grow in the same area off Powell Creek Road in Williams. Raphael Santoya-Pineda, 40, and Noel Tapia-Arreguin, 33, were each sentenced to 10 years federal prison for a 2,382 plant marijuana grow in the Burnt Creek area of Jackson County. Everardo Salgado-Rojas, 31, was sentenced to ten years federal prison for a 1,676 plant marijuana in the Galice area of Josephine County. Salgado-Rojas, Arreguin-Tapia, and Santoya-Pineda all possessed firearms in connection with the offense.
JOINT Commander Ken Selig emphasized the public threat posed by these large scale marijuana grows and the need for public vigilance. “Not only do these suspects pollute and destroy our public lands in the process, but they also present a grave risk to the public’s safety by being armed. If you happen across one of these grows in the summer time, leave immediately and call the police.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Douglas W. Fong. For more information contact AUSA Fong at 541-776-3564.
