Elk Grove Couple Charged With Indoor Marijuana Cultivation
SACRAMENTO - Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that a federal grand jury returned a five-count superseding indictment charging Elk Grove residents, Mitchell Chang, 45 and Kelly Liang, 35, with multiple counts of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, and manufacturing of marijuana. Court documents provide that in 2008 and again in 2013, Chang and Liang, maintained multiple Elk Grove area homes, wherein they cultivated, manufactured, and processed over 700 marijuana plants in total.
This case is the product of a joint investigation by the Elk Grove Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Olusere Olowoyeye is prosecuting the case.
The statutory penalty for a violation of the conspiracy charge is a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, a maximum possible penalty up to 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine. The statutory penalty for manufacturing at least 100 marijuana plants is a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, a maximum possible penalty up to 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
The charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
