The three men arrested in conjunction with a major marijuana
bust last week pleaded not guilty to the host of felony charges
Tuesday, however the District Attorney’s Office declined to file
charges on a fourth man drug agents found near the gardens.
Hollister – The three men arrested in conjunction with a major marijuana bust last week pleaded not guilty to the host of felony charges Tuesday, however the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges on a fourth man drug agents found near the gardens.
The three men, none of who are San Benito County residents, were charged with five felonies, including possessing a stolen police handgun and cultivating marijuana, and face up to five years in prison if convicted, according to Public Defender Greg La Forge.
Juventino Torres Delgado, 20, Armando Torres Delgado, 27, and Javier Valencia, 31, were found near the entrance to several large marijuana gardens in the Hernandez Dam area of south county last Wednesday, according to Bob Cooke, commander of the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement in San Jose. Also discovered was a handgun stolen from a Las Vegas police sergeant hidden in the car the men were driving, Cooke said.
While a fourth man, Las Vegas resident Seth Lee Bennett, 28, was detained along with the other three, he was released from the county jail and charges were not filed against him, according to jail personnel.
District Attorney John Sarsfield and Deputy District Attorney Steven Wagner, who is prosecuting the men, did not return phone calls Tuesday as to why charges were not filed against Bennett.
“My client had no marijuana on him, and the gun was stolen out of Vegas – the only guy from Vegas they walked,” La Forge said. “They clearly offered a deal to the wrong guy.”
The suspects were found at the entrance to one of about 10 covert marijuana gardens located in the remote hills of south San Benito County. After some questioning, police arrested the men and booked them in the San Benito County Jail. Although Bennett was released Thursday afternoon, the three men were booked and are still in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail, which a judge reduced from $500,000, La Forge said.
Local and state drug agents spent three days searching for and destroying thousands of marijuana plants, some reaching heights of 12 feet, according to police. Police seized 7,761 plants Wednesday and eradicated another 9,025 plants on Thursday, Cooke said.
Cooke said each plant could have yielded nearly $4,000 on the street, which would have totaled more than $67 million.
The three men will next go before a judge on Sept. 13, where a date will be set for their preliminary hearing.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
