Modesto man sentenced to prison for growing marijuana

MODESTO -- A Modesto resident has been sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to taking part in a large marijuana growing operation.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, Eudaldo Garcia Salas, also known as Eudaldo Calcas Garcia, 55, received the sentence Monday for growing marijuana at his home and in a cornfield in Modesto.

Court documents say the operation involved 549 marijuana plants that weighed more than 3,000 pounds.

Agents seized an assault weapon with 124 rounds of ammunition from an open detached garage at a residential property next to the cornfield where Garcia was found tending marijuana plants.

Upon completion of his prison term, Garcia is subject to deportation to Mexico.

Garcia's co-defendant, Jose Cisneros Garcia, 53, of Modesto has requested a jury trial, which is set for May 21 in federal court in Fresno.