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Pot grow operation suspect faces years in prison

Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

The defendant accused of illegally growing marijuana on U.S. Forest Service land near Carbondale made his first court appearance Wednesday.

Fernando Esquivel Herrera is being charged in U.S. District Court with “conspiracy to manufacture … and possess with intention to distribute more than 1,000 marijuana plants.” That carries a minimum 10 year sentence. He was arrested last week near Redstone in the White River National Forest.

Officers reported finding 2,735 marijuana plants, as well irrigation hosing and a large campsite. There were seven sleeping bags at the site, and officers witnessed a second suspect running through the brush. No other suspects have been arrested.

 

About eight acres of Forest Service land were damaged by the grow operation.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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