Eastern District of California Blog

Two Men Found Guilty By Sac Jury of Lassen County Marijuana Grow and Gun Possession

Two men have been convicted in a marijuana growing case that involved a gun battle last year between suspects and law enforcement officers in which one suspect was killed and two Lassen County sheriff's officers were wounded.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced Friday that a federal jury convicted Jose Alfredo Zepeda, 20, of East Palo Alto, and Clemente Ferrias Arroyo, 63, of Morgan Hill, of conspiring to manufacture at least 1,000 marijuana plants, manufacturing at least 1,000 marijuana plants and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.

The charges stem from an investigation of a large outdoor marijuana garden on federal land in northern Lassen County by two Bureau of Land Management rangers, two Lassen County sheriff's officers and a Susanville police officer.

On June 16, 2009, the officers encountered three suspected marijuana growers. Suspect Juan Carlos Herrera-Chavez engaged the officers in a gun battle using an AK-47 rifle, a Department of Justice news release states. The two sheriff's deputies were wounded, and Herrera-Chavez was killed when officers returned fire, officials said. Both Lassen County sheriff's officers survived.

Sacramento Bee, 4/26/2010

Lassen County Marijuana Grow Case Involving Shooting Charged in Fed Court

On Friday, two defendants, Jose Alfredo Zepeda and Clemente Ferrias Arroyo, were ordered detained during their initial appearance in Sacramento on federal charges of conspiracy and manufacturing more than 1,000 marijuana plants and possession of firearms in connection with those charges, after state court charges were dismissed.  A third suspect was shot and killed, apparently during a gun battle with law enforcement officers.  Count 3 charges that the two defendants are criminally liable for the deceased's discharge of a firearm.  Indictment 09CR273   The case is being prosecuted by AUSA Samuel Wong while the two defendants are represented by attorneys Michael Chastaine and Dan Koukol.  Assigned to U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez.

I can't tell what happened to the other four defendants who were also charged in Lassen County, see Sac Bee, 6/25/09.  Today's Sac Bee reports that all Lassen County charges were dismissed and all six were brought into federal custody, but the other four are not named in the same indictment.

Here's a video narrated by the Lassen County Sheriff about the arrests: