Drug bust nabs four

Four local men are facing felony drug and firearms charges in the wake of Thursday evening’s raid which shut down a more than $270,000 Sonoma Valley marijuana-growing operation.
“It was about a month-and-a-half long investigation,” Agent Roy Giorgi, with the state’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, said Tuesday. “A few subjects were dealing in large quantities of marijuana and also selling the marijuana plants.”
Timothy Krackle, 21; Brian Todd, 23; and Dominic Corsi, 21, were arrested at a small house on Broadway just south of Napa Road. Corsi’s brother, Gino, 23, was taken into custody a short time later at a Center Street home in El Verano across from the Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue station. Bail for the four was set at $50,000 each.
BNE spokesperson Michelle Gregory said the Broadway house yielded seven pounds of marijuana, two pounds of hashish and a grove of 39 mature plants. Some 21 pounds of marijuana and another 75 plants were recovered from the Center Street home, with a total street value of $270,000, she said.
In addition, two loaded handguns – one revolver and one semi-automatic – were found, one at each location, Gregory said.
Sonoma police Sgt. Dave Thompson said police and sheriff’s deputies aided in the arrests by setting up a perimeter but had no other connection to the investigation.
Giorgi led the raid on behalf of the newly formed federal/state Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigative Team, which sets its sights on large-scale growing operations. He said the local investigation began in mid-March with surveillance and infiltration, and wrapped up last week after undercover agents made a large purchase of marijuana and hashish – and received two search warrants for the suspect’s homes.
Krackle and Todd allegedly supplied the marijuana and hashish while the Corsi brothers acted as brokers, Giorgi said. He denied reports that the Corsis connected their dealings with their father’s barbecue business.
“The business had nothing to do with this case – there were no ties, we did no surveillance on the business,” Giorgi said. “These were two young adults who got involved in selling marijuana.”