A Taft resident has pleaded guilty in federal court to growing marijuana in the Sequoia National Forest. 46-year-old Juan Penaloza-Ramirez of Michoacan, Mexico and lives in Taft admitted Monday to having three separate growing operations in the forests of Tulare and Kern counties with a total of nearly 9 thousand plants. Co-defendant Russell Lee Riggs of Weldon is due in court next month. Three other men also pleaded guilty Monday to growing plants in the SNF in an unrelated case.

Sean Michael Lisle