El Dorado County drops charges against man allegedly transporting pot
By Greg Welter, Oroville Mercury-Register
Charges have been dropped in El Dorado County against a Chico man arrested with a large amount of marijuana in his car, but he now faces prosecution in Butte County, where it was allegedly grown.
Robert Daniels, 62, was arrested in October 2010 after California Highway Patrol officers reportedly found 103 pounds of processed pot in his vehicle during a traffic stop near Tahoma. Officials said he was on his way to deliver it to a pot cooperative in South Lake Tahoe.
An investigation led to the discovery of an additional 295 pounds of marijuana and 62 plants at Daniels’ Chico residence during a search warrant served by El Dorado County officials.
Prosecutors in El Dorado asked a judge to drop charges against Daniels so he could face allegations in Butte County of cultivating marijuana and possessing it for sales.
An investigation revealed Daniels was allegedly among five other people operating a pot grow in the Richardson Springs area, east of Chico.