Long Beach : Two Men Charged With Cultivating Marijuana
The district attorney’s office has filed charges against two men accused of operating a marijuana ring that produced millions of dollars worth of plants in high-tech underground farms.
Frank Gegax, 48, of Lancaster, and Richard F. Yerger, 28, of Long Beach were charged Tuesday with cultivation, possession and maintaining a place for manufacture and distribution of marijuana.
Last week officials raided a Lancaster home owned by Yerger and found a concrete bunker with thousands of plants and sophisticated equipment for cultivation. Authorities said the farm could produce as much as $100 million worth of marijuana a year.
Another such farm was found last week in Llano, also in the Antelope Valley, and two others were discovered in Arizona on Oct. 30.
A Lancaster judge set bail for Yerger at $2 million. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 27 along with two other men charged Monday. Gegax is in federal custody in downtown Los Angeles. He also faces federal charges in Phoenix of conspiracy to sell marijuana.
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