A 30-year-old man linked to more than 3,000 marijuana plants found along Silver Creek in South San Benito County has been sentenced to eight months in jail, according to a statement.
That announcement, from the California District Attorneys Association, read partially as follows:
The San Benito District Attorney’s Office announced this week that Emmanuel Jiminez Rivera was sentenced to one felony of cultivating marijuana with a weapons enhancement along with three misdemeanors: taking of an endangered species, receiving stolen property and discharging a deleterious substance into the waters of the state, according to the statement.
Rivera will serve eight months in the San Benito County Jail.
On June 22, a marijuana eradication operation was conducted along Silver Creek, off Panoche Road in San Benito County. In total, officers eradicated 3,354 marijuana plants from the illegal grow site. Oil, gasoline, and other substances harmful to fish, plants, and other wildlife were found along the bank of Silver Creek. Marijuana plants were found growing alongside and directly in the creek channel. The illegal grow was conducted in an environmentally sensitive habitat of an endangered species, which Rivera killed. Rivera was also found to be in possession of a stolen firearm.
