By PETE BANDA 
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
Two San Benito men are facing 3rd degree felony charges after officers from the San Benito Narcotics Unit and members of the Drug Enforcement Agency teamed up to execute a search warrant down the 300 block of Chapman Street on Wednesday. Mark Anthony Garcia, 25, and Gilberto Israel Guerrero, 28, were both charged with possession of marijuana in a drug free zone. Garcia picked up another 3rd degree felony charge for delivery of marijuana in a drug free zone after officers found 47 ounces of marijuana inside the house.
According to San Benito Interim Police Chief Michael Galvan, the raid is part of his overall plan to eradicate as much of the crime in the city as possible.
“When I took over here, my goal was to stop the rise of crime that had been going on lately and by targeting where the drugs come from and limiting the amount of drugs that get out the community, it is my hope that all crimes would start to decrease,” said Galvan. “We’ve been making arrests on the street that have been leading to more and more information and eventually that leads us to making the bigger arrests.”
After being taken to San Benito City Jail, Judge Ben Yudesis set the bond at $100,000 for Garcia, while Guerrero’s bond was set at $50,000. However, it was found that Guerrero already had a warrant out for his arrest from the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office for a failure to appear. Both have since been taken to Cameron County Jail, but Guerrero will have to serve time for his failure to appear warrant before even being eligible to post bond.
Punishment for a 3rd degree felony conviction can range from 2 to 10 years in prison. It is also possible that a judge orders probation instead of jail time.
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