A Siskiyou County resident was sentenced to nearly six years for his part in an illegal cannabis grow operation and then trying to bribe his way out of it when caught, reported The Sacramento Bee.
The man's sister, who had a minor role in the affair, was sentenced to time served and a $50,000 fine.
Chi Meng Yang of Montague and Gaosheng Laitinen of St. Paul, Minnesota were sentenced Tuesday in Sacramento. They were part of a bribery scheme seeking to 'protect' illicit marijuana grows in northern California's Siskiyou County from law enforcement, said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.
Earlier this year, a federal jury found Yang guilty of attempting to bribe former Sheriff Jon Lopey, conspiracy to commit bribery and producing over 100 cannabis plants. This happened on the heels of Laitinen pleading guilty to two conspiracy accounts: to commit bribery and manufacture marijuana.
The Background
According to the U.S. attorney's office, the case began in May 2017. Yang and Lopey allegedly met several times during which Yang offered Lopey money on several occasions. The payments were meant to go to charity and to fund Lopey's re-election campaign. In return, Lopey was asked to push for marijuana legalization in Missouri and provide protection for eight properties, among other things, authorities said.
Yang also told the sheriff about his illegal marijuana cultivation. Lopey then called the FBI to join in an investigation. Following numerous recorded telephone conversations and video recordings between Lopey and Yang, federal agents arrested Yang in August 2017 and happened to find 1,168 marijuana plants on his property.
Illegal Cannabis Grows Flourish In Siskiyou County
Interestingly, earlier this year, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office urged state and federal regulators to come and see firsthand the problems illicit cannabis cultivation is bringing to the county.
Sheriff Jerimiah LaRue posted the following message on the County Sheriff's Facebook page, along with a video showing one of many illegal marijuana farms and associated problems.
"The purpose of this video is to be transparent about what the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office encounters on a regular basis while performing search warrant operations at illegal cannabis grows within the County," the post reads.
The video revealed swimming pools that are being used as justification for water usage but are actually directly piped to a greenhouse and many other disturbing things.
Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who visited Siskiyou County last year, said that they need more funding to help it deal with the enormous problem.
"The bottom line is they need more dollars to do this because they can't do it with the personnel they have, as hard as they try, and I don't see any big help coming from the state," LaMalfa said.
LaMalfa's Bill To Put An End To Use Of Banned Pesticides On Illegal Marijuana Grows
Meanwhile, Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), along with Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA), introduced legislation on Monday that seeks to crack down on the use of banned pesticides on illegal marijuana grows on public land.
The bill, Targeting and Offsetting Existing Illegal Contaminants (TOXIC) Act, seeks to address and rectify the environmental damage being done by illegal pesticides. According to an official statement from LaMalfa's office, TOXIC also raises criminal penalties for those who grow cannabis on federal land and use banned pesticides.
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