Six Face Federal Drug Charges for Manufacturing Marijuana
Men Charged with Cultivating Large Marijuana Grow Operation on U.S. Forest Land
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 12, 2011 |
MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that six men have been charged today in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court with manufacturing marijuana. The defendants allegedly cultivated a large marijuana grow operation in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, over a several-acre area approximately 25 miles northwest of Park Falls, Wis. The individuals charged are:
- Jose Esqueda-Garcia, 19, a citizen of Mexico;
- Norberto Burciago, 40, St. Paul, Minn.;
- Cesar Omar Tinoco, 21, a citizen of Mexico;
- Moises Lopez-Ontiveros, 21, a citizen of Mexico;
- Jorge Lopez-Ontiveros,24, a citizen of Mexico; and
- Abraham Ramirez, 29, a citizen of Mexico.
Moises Lopez-Ontiveros and Jorge Lopez-Ontiveros are brothers.
The defendants made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Madison today, and were ordered detained pending an arraignment hearing scheduled for Friday, August 19, at 9:00 a.m.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
The charges against the defendants are the result of an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice - Division of Criminal Investigation; Ashland County Sheriff's Department; Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Forest Service; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Northwest Area Crime Unit (comprised of Sawyer, Douglas and Washburn County Sheriffs' Departments and Superior Police Department); U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission. The prosecution of the case will be handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson.
You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.