Fourteen Defendants Convicted in Eastern Oregon Investigation

PORTLAND, OR—Dwight C. Holton, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, announced today the conviction of 14 individuals in connection with a long-term Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation led by the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team (BENT), located in Pendleton and Hermiston, Oregon. Beginning in April 2009, law enforcement officers investigated drug trafficking conspiracy led by Carlos Joaquin Barragan, 31, of Hermiston, Oregon. Barragan was involved in large scale marijuana cultivation as well as the distribution of methamphetamine. On August 19, 2009, in Grant County, Oregon, officers seized 23,000 marijuana plants growing on United States Forest Service land, three guns including an SKS assault rifle, and arrested four individuals found living and working in the marijuana grow. The investigation culminated on October 1, 2009, with the execution of federal search warrants at three residences, in Hermiston, Oregon and Fife, Washington, resulting in the seizure of three more firearms, several pounds of marijuana, and marijuana seeds.

Barragan and six other individuals involved in cultivating the 23,000 marijuana plants pled guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. Efrain Garcia-Mendoza, 25, a Mexican citizen who had been living in Fife, Washington, was sentenced to five years in prison on September 2, 2010. The remaining defendants, Barragan, Sergio Escalera-Garcia, 35, Ricardo Bravo, 30, and Jose Luis Escalera-Garcia, 23, of Roosevelt, Washington, and Baldemar Garcia-Mendoza, 24, of Fife, Washington will be sentenced during the next two months. One additional defendant, Karla Ramirez-Romero, 22, of Fife Washington, was convicted of Misprision of Felony in a related case, and served 10 months in prison.

On October 1, 2009, detectives also executed federal search warrants relating to the methamphetamine conspiracy led by Barragan at nine Oregon residences in Hermiston, LaGrande, and Irrigon, as well as a Pasco, Washington residence. Detectives seized more than six ounces of methamphetamine, a dozen firearms, scales, drug paraphernalia, drug records and cell phones related to the investigation.

To date, six individuals have been convicted of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of methamphetamine. Guillermo Morfin Ortiz, 48, a Mexican citizen who had been living in Hermiston, Oregon, was sentenced to five years in prison on September 1, 2010. John Bristol Knight, 63, of LaGrande, Oregon was sentenced to 37 months in prison on September 7, 2010. Shane Soros, 43, Matilda Williams, 50, and Rogelio Chavez, 30, of Hermiston, Oregon, and Marietta Gallagher, 60, of Irrigon, Oregon will be sentenced during the next two months. Pedro Soto-Contreras, 23, of Pasco, Washington is a fugitive from justice.

This investigation was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) sponsored joint effort between federal, state, and local agencies, led by the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team (BENT), with the assistance of the Pendleton Police Department, the Oregon State Police, the Hermiston Police Department, the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, the Umatilla Tribal Police Department, the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office, the Milton Freewater Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team (CODE) , the Multi Agency Drug Enforcement Response and Interdiction Team (MERIT), the United States Forest Service, the Tri-Cities METRO Task Force, the FBI, the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office, HIDTA Interdiction Team (HIT), Department of Human Services, Oregon Department of Justice, the United States Marshall Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Grant County District Attorney’s Office, the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Offices for the District of Oregon and the Eastern District of Washington.

"Defendants in this organization endangered citizens of Eastern Oregon by distributing toxic drugs. The armed marijuana growers also posed a serious threat to citizens using public lands for recreational purposes. The unlawful cultivation of marijuana in this and other cases damages our forests, wildlife and other natural resources. This successful prosecution of this case demonstrates the significant impact that a cooperative working relationship between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies can have in rural Oregon communities that are plagued by drug trafficking in marijuana and methamphetamine. We will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute such drug trafficking organizations," said Dwight C. Holton, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer J. Martin.