SAN FRANCISCO – LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Cody Dobbs was convicted today of cultivating and possessing with intent to distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to cultivate and possess with intent to distribute marijuana by a federal jury today. The jury, after deliberating one and a half days, found that Cody Dobbs conspired with others to grow and possess marijuana with the intent to distribute it between January 2004 and May 12, 2005. The jury further found that Mr. Dobbs conspired to grow and possess marijuana with the intent to distribute it between August 2006 and September 13, 2006. In addition, the jury found that Mr. Dobbs was growing and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute on May 12, 2005 and September 13, 2006. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a fifth count charging Dobbs with growing or possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute on April 30, 2004. The guilty verdicts followed a three-week jury trial before United States District Judge Susan Illston.
Evidence at trial showed that Mr. Dobbs, 30, of Clear Lake, California, was responsible for a large-scale indoor marijuana cultivation facility located at 750 Bear Pen Canyon Road, Piercy, California. The site was discovered on May 12, 2005, during an investigation by wardens of the California Department of Fish and Game of diesel fuel spilled into a creek that fed local residents’ water supply. Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies subsequently found over 2,000 marijuana plants at the site. Evidence at trial showed that the defendant had been growing marijuana at this facility since approximately 2002.
Evidence further showed that Mr. Dobbs was responsible for a second cultivation facility located at 4589 Crooked Prairie Road, Humboldt County, California. When agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and deputies of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department searched the site on September 13, 2006, they found over 700 outdoor marijuana plants.
Other evidence at trial linked Mr. Dobbs to indoor cultivation facilities located at 4589 Crooked Prairie Road and 1170 Cummings Creek Road, both in Humboldt County. Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies found marijuana growing at these facilities in 2005.
This conviction is the result of extensive coordination between state and federal law enforcement agencies who cooperated in the gathering of evidence regarding Dobbs’ marijuana cultivation activities and financial dealings over a number of years.
The sentencing of Mr. Dobbs is scheduled for February 29, 2008 before Judge Illston in San Francisco. The statutory penalty for two of the counts of violating 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1) is a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years up to life in prison. The statutory penalty for the remaining two counts of violating 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1) is a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 5 years up to 40 years in prison. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Kirstin M. Ault and Susan Jerich are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lakisha Holliman and Sheryl Castillo. The prosecution is the result of a three-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, California Department of Fish and Game, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and United States Postal Inspection Service.
Further Information:
Case #: CR-06-0711-SI
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Josh Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov
