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August 1, 2003
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced that Anthony Louis Sasso pled guilty to conspiring to manufacture marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, manufacturing marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and eight counts of laundering monetary instruments in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956. Belle Sasso, Anthony Louis Sasso's wife, also pled guilty to four counts of laundering monetary instruments in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956.
Mr. Sasso, age 34, and Mrs. Sasso, age 25, both of Willits, California, were indicted by a federal Grand Jury in the Northern of District of California on February 21, 2002, and by a separate federal Grand Jury in the District of Oregon on November 14, 2002.
In pleading guilty, Mr. Sasso admitted that between 1999 and October 2002, he conspired with others to cultivate at least 3,500 marijuana plants and to possess those marijuana plants with the intent to distribute them. The conspiracy involved the cultivation, processing, and distribution of marijuana at properties located on Covelo Road in Mendocino County, California and on South Deer Creek Road and Clarkes Branch Road in Douglas County, Oregon. Mr. Sasso also admitted that he was the leader of the criminal conspiracy and that the conspiracy involved at least five people. In addition, Mr. Sasso admitted that between May 2001 and October 2002, he conducted in excess of $150,000 of monetary transactions in Oregon involving property that represented the proceeds of the manufacture and distribution of marijuana with the intent to promote the carrying on of that unlawful activity. Mr. Sasso also agreed to forfeit his ownership interest in real properties located in Mendocino County, California and Douglas County, Oregon.
In pleading guilty, Mrs. Sasso admitted that between April 1999 and February 2002, she conducted in excess of $65,000 of monetary transactions in Mendocino County, California involving property that represented the proceeds of the manufacture and distribution of marijuana with the intent to promote the carrying of that unlawful activity and with the intent to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds from that unlawful activity. Mrs. Sasso also agreed to forfeit her ownership interest in real properties located in Mendocino County, California and Douglas County, Oregon.
The sentencing of Mr. Sasso and Mrs. Sasso is scheduled for December 2, 2003 before Judge William H. Alsup in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for each violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. § 846 by Mr. Sasso is life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison and a $4,000,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 by Mr. and Mrs. Sasso is 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine or twice the value of the property involved in the monetary transactions. However, the actual sentence will be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed in the discretion of the Court.
The prosecution is the result of an over two year investigation by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco, California and Eugene, Oregon, by agents of the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation in San Francisco, California, by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department, and by the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team in Douglas County, Oregon. AUSA Christopher J. Steskal is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case in the Northern District of California, and AUSA Jeff Kent is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case in the District of Oregon.
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Related court documents and information may be found on the District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.cand.uscourts/gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415) 436-7181.
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