Two charged with illegal gold mining in Sierra County enter no contest pleas; "This is not 1849"

Two men charged with illegal gold mining in the Sierra along with felony vandalism of public land and private property entered no contest pleas, prosecutors announced Wednesday.Gregory Arnoldi Jr. and his father Gregory Arnoldi Sr. were also charged with felony conspiracy along with misdemeanor charges of water pollution, altering a stream without notifying state authorities, mining without a permit or reclamation plan, and grading without a permit. The Sierra County District Attorney's Office said both men pleaded no contest to felony vandalism and the misdemeanor water pollution and stream alteration charges. In a post on the Sierra County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, the DA's office said the defendants used heavy equipment to modify a historic carriage route to carry their truck and mining equipment, and their work resulted in rock and soil passing into Keystone Creek which flows into the North Fork of the Yuba River near Loganville.A man uses heavy equipment to illegally grade