71-Year-Old Allegedly Busted With Almost 1/2 Million Dollars and Over a Thousand Plants

This is a press release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and the individual described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:

menOn 05-13-2015 at approximately 10:00 AM, Deputies from the County of Mendocino, Marijuana Eradication Team assisted by Agents from the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force served a search warrant on a residence on North Fork Drive, Comptche, CA.  Located at the property was an indoor and outdoor marijuana operation, where over 1200 marijuana plants were being grown.

Officers developed information that the marijuana operation was being operated by Fredrick Soderlind [age 71 from Comptche.]  Soderlind had an outstanding felony warrant for his arrest, related to a previous cultivation of marijuana case. Officers located Soderlind as he was driving away from his residence.  Soderlind was arrested and while officers were searching his vehicle Soderlind attempted to discard a car key that was in his possession.  The officer retrieved the key and found that it unlocked an old car a short distance away.  Located in the car was approx. $484,000 in US Currency.  Located at Soderlind’s residence was an additional 25 marijuana plants.

Soderlind was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County jail on the listed charges.  Soderlind was subsequently released from custody after posting $50,000 bail.

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15 Comments
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Ernie Branscomb
Guest
8 years ago

Go Big or go home.

Amimissingsomething
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Amimissingsomething
8 years ago

Greed

LAZY SKUNK RANCH
Guest
LAZY SKUNK RANCH
8 years ago

You don’t know how he got that money, maybe it’s even the Mendo Sheriffs laundering money through a trumped arrest?
He should be made Sheriff of Mendo or run the Board Of Supervisors seeing how he is able to stay under budget and have some money left over, something they need leadership in.

Just Wondering
Guest
Just Wondering
8 years ago

These kind of large or mega-grows make we wonder about quality control and the final product. I guess it’s possible to hire a good team of workers who care about what they are doing but it seems like in any business, once you get too big you are going to loose craftsmanship and quality. On the other hand, maybe this guy is just in it for the green backs and not the green buds.

Shortjohnson
Guest
Shortjohnson
8 years ago

I’ll bet he is a regular hardworking farmer. Only he knows how to save money.

Eastside
Guest
Eastside
8 years ago

Jeeze Grandpa , had a good couple of years did you?

gail samuels
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gail samuels
8 years ago

looks like a pretty nurturing guy.

Todd Wagner
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Todd Wagner
8 years ago

That many plants is not a lot for an indoor grow, considering they count moms, clones, starts, ect. as single plants. And while that is a considerable amount of cash, it’s not excessive for someone that age that has a strong work ethic and is diligent and thrifty. Seems like a case of punishing the hard-working and successful by a parasitic Sheriff’s Office that is concerned with self aggrandizement rather than the safety of the community. I fail to see how distrupting this guy’s life, taking his reward for work well done and prosecuting him does anything more than justify and feed a Criminal Justice system that is based on an outdated moral model that supposes a marijuana user is somehow depraved and needs to be punished or “corrected”. Many people will say growing is easy money and is somehow non-deserved. I say those people are misinformed and ignorant of the realities it takes to produce a quality product for sale in the unregulated open market of the free-market system, which I was told, is what makes America great.
I try to make it a point to never bad-mouth someone till you walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, if they get pissy, you’re a mile away and have their shoes.
I would prefer to see the authorities concentrate on the people that are having a negative effect on the environment, be they pot growers, grape growers, whatever, than grabbing the low hanging fruit in order to effect asset forfeiture. I grew up learning how to “duck and cover”–basically kissing your ass goodbye–because this type of action is what the Russian authorities did to their people, and it would be preferable to be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust rather than live in a society like that.
And while the cops, prosecutors, attorneys and judges can certainly make life miserable for the growers, industry workers, consumers and advocates, at the end of the day we can rest assured, knowing that, much like any civil rights worker and agitator, we are on the right side of History.

El Barto
Guest
El Barto
8 years ago
Reply to  Todd Wagner

Well said, Mr. Wagner.

Gz
Guest
Gz
8 years ago

Well written Todd. Peter Hoyle and his goon squad are in this only for extortion purposes, and David Eyster is a criminally corrupt public official. This county continues to fuck itself, as it is so adept at doing

Douglas
Guest
Douglas
8 years ago

To Todd’s point that we are on the right side of history … I’ve been saying lately that we’ve won the war; well, not all the battles yet. It’s kinda like WWII in 1943. It was clear that Germany was going to lose. But it would take millions more casualties before the final capitulation. Following this analogy, Soderlind is one of the modern casualties of a futile war effort.

nines
Guest
8 years ago

If a bunch of his neighbors and friends, or outraged locals in general, had gone in and demanded they give him back his money, I wonder how it might’ve speeded up any victory we may eventually enjoy over this cleptocratic way of doing things….

Tulip Torpedo
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Tulip Torpedo
8 years ago

Give him back his stuff.

Greg
Guest
Greg
8 years ago

I know this man.
He is an outstanding father of four and grandfather to six.

Stop ripping hard working farmers off and give him back years worth of his savings.
Yes, people can save.
No, he is not a criminal.

He grows organic, I know it, and appreciate the product he grows.
He’s been a part of this community since the 60s, one of the original rock and roll OG ‘s.

This is a disgrace and I am so disheartened to hear of this misfortune.
My heart goes out to him and his family. The fight goes on.

veteransfriend
Guest
veteransfriend
8 years ago

That money won’t even buy a nice house around here. Get a grip.