Dineh Benally pleads guilty to 15 felonies tied to pot farms dismantled in 2020 raid
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Businessman Dineh Benally has pleaded guilty to 15 federal felonies tied to a sprawling marijuana operation in the Navajo Nation that investigators say produced more than a quarter-million plants, about 30 tons, before agents shut it down in 2020. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and could be sentenced to life.
Under the plea agreement, Benally also faces a potential $10 million drug fine – or twice the proceeds of the crime – plus environmental penalties ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 for each day of violation. A federal judge, James O. Browning, will set the sentencing date. If released, Benally would be placed on supervised release.
Navajo Nation Attorney General Colin Bradley said the Nation “has worked tirelessly since 2020 to hold Benally and his associates accountable,” crediting early coordination with federal, state and tribal partners. “The Nation can now focus on restoring the lands and natural resources of the Shiprock community,” Bradley said.
Authorities say Benally, who made two attempts for the Executive office, launched the farms during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, initially presenting them as hemp operations, also prohibited under Navajo law. After the Nation secured a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in the summer of 2020, inspections found the crop was not hemp but high-grade marijuana.
“When the Nation was facing our greatest challenge in recent memory with COVID-19, Benally sought to take advantage of law enforcement’s intense focus on protecting the public from the pandemic,” Chief Prosecutor Vernon L. Jackson said. “Navajo Nation Law Enforcement rose to meet the moment and led the first steps in bringing Benally’s dangerous criminal enterprise to an abrupt end.”
The investigation culminated that November in “Operation Navajo Gold,” a multi-day raid that drew hundreds of officers from the FBI, the Navajo Nation Police Department and other agencies. Teams hit roughly 21 farms with more than 1,100 greenhouses in and around Shiprock, destroying the plants on site.
Before federal charges were filed, the Navajo Nation brought its own criminal case against Benally and associates under tribal drug-trafficking laws. Those charges remain pending in Shiprock District Court. The Nation is represented by Charlie Galbraith and Krystalyn Kinsel of Jenner & Block, both Diné.
The guilty plea caps a years-long case that began with emergency civil action, moved through large-scale interdiction, and ended with a conviction that carries the possibility of a life sentence. For Shiprock residents, tribal officials say the focus now shifts to repairing land and water damaged by the grow sites and the irrigation systems that fed them.
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