SACRAMENTO - A Sacramento man under investigation for marijuana cultivation on his foothills properties has agreed to voluntarily surrender on separate drug charges in Nevada.
Raghvendra "Raj" Singh, 52, appeared in Sacramento Superior Court Wednesday for a brief extradition hearing following his arrest last month on a felony fugitive warrant.
Judge Laurel White allowed Singh to remain free on $50,000 bail after he promised to appear in Hawthorne Township Justice Court in Mineral County, Nevada, on Nov. 5 on drug cultivation and trafficking charges.
Singh owns the Roadrunner Motel in Schurz, Nevada, where authorities seized 144 pounds of processed marijuana in a Sept. 2 raid.
According to Mineral County Sheriff Stewart Handte, Singh initially claimed the marijuana was being grown for medicinal purposes, which is illegal in Mineral County.
Singh later challenged the legality of the raid in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, claiming the motel is part of the Walker River Paiute Indian Reservation and out of reach of the Mineral County sheriff and district attorney.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Hollows rejected the claim as legally frivolous.
Two of Singh's rural properties in El Dorado County with active marijuana-growing operations were raided by California authorities several days after the motel raid, but no criminal charges have been filed in that case.
