Marijuana case - not guilty plea in slaying of El Dorado Deputy Brian Ishmael
The man accused of overseeing two marijuana gardens that officials say led to the Oct. 23 slaying of El Dorado sheriff’s Deputy Brian Ishmael made his first appearance in court since being indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Sacramento.
Jorge Lamas, a U.S. citizen who authorities say was being paid $150 a day by someone in Mexico to oversee the marijuana grows in Somerset and Georgetown, pleaded not guilty and had his next court appearance set for Dec. 4.
Lamas, 25, is being held at the Sacramento County Jail along with three other men - Christopher Garry Ross, Juan Carlos Vasquez and Ramiro Bravo Morales. Each faces federal charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, manufacturing marijuana and discharge of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense and could face up to life in prison.
Vazquez and Morales also face federal charges of being illegal aliens in possession of a firearm.
Vasquez and Ross also face murder charges in El Dorado Superior Court, while Morales faces a charge of being an accessory.
The charges stem from what authorities believe is a Mexico-based conspiracy to grow marijuana on small plots of land in California.
Ross was renting out a growing area at his home in exchange for a payment of $13,000, and the grow site was being tended to by Vazquez and Morales and overseen by Lamas, authorities say.
Ross called 911 early on Oct. 23 and reported that thieves were stealing his plants in Somerset, a call that authorities say was a ruse because he believed Vasquez and Morales were planning to take the plants without giving him $3,000 they still owed, authorities say.
Ishmael and an off-duty San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputy responded to the 911 call and came under fire from Vazquez, officials say. Ishmael was killed and Vazquez and the other deputy were wounded.
Hours later, Lamas called 911 to report that thieves were targeting his grow site in Georgetown, a call that led officials to Lamas and eventually to the discovery of the link between the two pot growing sites.
That led to the combined federal and state charges.
El Dorado District Attorney Vern Pierson said last week that his office still has not decided whether to seek the death penalty against the defendants charged with murder.