Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Drug Trafficker Sentenced

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Drug Trafficker Sentenced

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
Drug Trafficker Sentenced
A man found guilty of drug trafficking in the park was sentenced in mid-November to 10 years in federal prison for growing thousands of marijuana plants in Sequoia and Kings Canyon and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. Gilberto Ontiveros Valencia, a Mexican national, was arrested by park rangers during a raid on a marijuana grow site in the park in 2009.

Following the arrest, agents from the Investigative Services Branch continued the investigation and prosecution. Ontiveros Valencia was suspected of having been responsible for all the marijuana grow sites within one canyon in the park since 2002, and ISB had linked him to two marijuana grow sites within the park in 2005. Ontiveros Valencia was also responsible for damaging over five acres of previously undisturbed park land.

During cleanup operations at the site, rangers removed over a half ton of garbage, 10,000 feet of irrigation hose, and a wide array of hazardous materials, including fertilizers, pesticides, rodenticides, and propane canisters. Ontiveros Valencia was sentenced to ten years in prison and was ordered to pay $59,094 in restitution to the park for the costs of cleanup operations and for the damage to natural resources.

This successful prosecution provides an excellent example of the strong working relationship between the Investigative Services Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the park rangers of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Thursday, December 2, 2010