Pot dispensary owner sentenced to a year and a day in prison

The owner of a Morro Bay pot dispensary who emerged as a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana was sentenced to one year and one day in prison today by a federal judge in Los Angeles.

Charles Lynch, 47, dressed in a dark suit, sat with his hands clasped and stared straight ahead as the sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu. Lynch declined the opportunity to address the court moments earlier. His mother, seated in the courtroom gallery nearby, fought back tears as Wu said he saw no way around imposing a sentence of at least one year.

Lynch’s case made headlines nationwide and came to symbolize the tension between conflicting state and federal marijuana laws. Cultivating, using and selling doctor-recommended marijuana is allowed under some circumstances in California and about a dozen other states, but such activities are banned entirely under federal law.

Lynch was prosecuted for illegally distributing marijuana from his Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers facility, despite having the blessing of Morro Bay’s mayor, city attorney and other civic leaders.

During a two-week trial last summer, Lynch’s attorneys attempted to mount a defense based on the service they contend he provided to chronically ill patients who relied on marijuana to ease their suffering. They were barred from doing so, however, because the Supreme Court has ruled that medical necessity is not a legitimate defense for violating federal drug laws.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, portrayed Lynch as a common drug dealer who profited from his enterprise and hauled around a backpack stuffed with cash. They said he sold more than $2 million worth of the drug. They also said he repeatedly sold to people under 21 — considered minors under federal law — and that much of his clientele consisted of seemingly healthy young repeat customers.

--Scott Glover at L.A. Federal Court

Photo: Lynch earlier this year / L.A. Times file

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Comments

[Ted]

This is a gross miscarriage of justice.

President Obama, get out that pardon pen.

[Jessica McAdams]

The President should know that Merrill Lynch isn't the only Lynch in the news which causes us to question the government's competence in delivering justice.

[brettstrodamus]

Party on Garth...

[Deborah]

Do you know what this means? Regardless of established state law, the federal government can impose whatever morality they wish. Our new Attorney General should step in on Mr. Lynch's behalf. This is a travesty of "justice". Feces is what this is. Complete feces.
Judge Wu may be bound by the precedent of law, but there are others whose authority reaches beyond these antiquated laws. Where are they?! I smell a revolt coming. At least I hope I do.

[Gongora]

California needs to bar FBI Agents or DEA from 'dispensing' their form of justice here. They are the worse of criminals and liars and ignore our laws. We don't need them to live happy, healthy lives. If they come to California just put them in protective custody and escort them to the state limits. Bye bye problem.

[aaron]

What a trajedy, this is a total miscarriage of justice, he only recieved one year! Ten of thousands are murdered every year from illegal drugs, if you use drugs, sell them, manage money for them. your are the problem, your the reason why so much MISERY has been cause. stop consuming, stop selling, stop managing money for drugs, make this world a better place to live.

[Arturo]

This is a good precedent for all of the illegal marijuana storefronts that have just opened in L.A. and are causing blight in many neighborhoods, including mine. Hey c'mon over here, feds! We've got 600 criminal dispensary owners for you to put in prison. The city government is not doing its job, so please get to work and help us clean up our neighborhoods!

[Ronin]

Escort the prosecutors and the judge to the border and wish them luck.

[Voter with a memory]

This needs to stop. Enough with the war on marijuana. With all the problems we have, why are law enforcement and the courts doing this? The government needs to figure this out fast, before they get voted out.

[Jim]

I hope that medical pot and dispensaries come to Pennsylvania soon.

Charles Lynch is a national hero in my mind, a true American. He is going to jail for what he believes in, and it is in every way worth it.

[Jack]

This case is an example of why we need trial by jury and "jury nullification".

[Stephen]

Marijuana by nearly all studies and cases seems to be one of the most safe and effective drugs on earth. The more we learn about the drug, the more we see it is completely legitimate, and not just just for college kids to get a little giggly.

What happened to our brains back in the 1930's? We let a man like Harry Anslinger scare us into waging a war against our own people without substantial evidence.

It is impossible to look at the facts and come to any other conclusion except the legalization, taxation, regulation, and age-restriction of Marijuana in all forms for all purposes. Yet prohibitionists continue to plug their ears in the face of hard facts.

Our prohibition has encouraged scare tactics over evidence, ruined countless American lives with prison sentences, and has helped no one except for drug dealers, drug enforcers, and the private prison system. The drug war is without a doubt THE BIGGEST waste of money in our Nation's history.

It's time for rational people from all political views and walks of life to stand up for what we know is right.

[Marcos El Malo]

Judge Wu is bound by sentencing guidelines, not by precedent. And as the Federal Government has said it wasn't going to pursue cases like this anymore, it hardly sets a precedent.

What we Californians need to do is throw off the false morality and go ahead and legalize it, regulate it, and tax the snot out of it and get the state back on its financial feet. Only the most ignorant person would make the claim that prohibition works. All it does is funnel money to the drug cartels.

As a non pot smoking conservative, I say legalize it, regulate it, and tax the snot out of it.

[chris]

you fools that think having a blackmarket drug dealer is better than a legal dispensery are off your rockers. and obviously kood aid drinkers and swallow whatever the gov't shovels down your throats. the reason drugs are so bad in your communities is because you refuse to face the issue on truth and facts, instead you love to stereotype people and there legal business. YES I SAID LEGAL, if the people of a state want to legalize/decriminalize a plant that has yet to hurt or kill anyone since the begining of time, they have the right and the federal gov't has NO RIGHT to tell them otherwise. we are 50 sovereign states which means if we want to change a law that doesnt align with the feds,then they have the right in the constitution to do so. just like the gay rights issue if the people dont want it they have the right to vote and say no,and it is illegal for the supreme court to overturn a voted legeslation. Now if your still too ignorant to even research your own bias, the facts are all over the internet and yes they do have completely different statistics than the feds because the feds have an agenda we just want the truth. And your gateway drug theory is just that a theory that has no merets in facts, other than if you keep cannibus/hemp on the black market then there will always be hard drug dealers trying to get you and your kids to use those more expensive life threatening drugs. here is a place to start reading http://www.illuminati-news.com/marijuana-conspiracy.htm

[mslade]

Your tax dollars at hard work while CA goes broke. I'm glad that real crime (murder, gang warface, rape, child molestation, embezzlement, the financial sector, etc...) has been resolved so that we can waste time and tax money investigating and prosecuting somebody for growing a plant.

Well done CA law enforcement.
Well done bureaucratic pencil pushers.
Well done federal court system.
Well done Obama administration.

Every one of you deserves a hearty pat on the back for putting such a dangerous and vile monster behind bars.

[tony Soprano]

I fully support the governments actions, I want all these places closed, if the mob gets involved again so be it.

[C]

Most of the people I know with a recommendation have paid off dirty doctors to get it. I know no chronically ill patients but I know about 10 people with recommendations. Wonder why the economy in CA is in bad shape? It could be that many our citizens sit around and smoke weed all day.

[AB 390]

Let''s channel our anger about Charles Lynch's unfair sentence into reforming the law.

If you want marijuana to be legalized, taxed, and regulated for adults,, YOU can make it happen. Tell your state legislators to support AB 390. It's easy. Visit yes390.org

[me]

wow some great comments and i'll add this LEGALIZE , its better than 75% of that pharmaceutical bs!

ALSO WILL CURB GREEN HOUSE EMISSION!!! IMAGINE

[Arturo]

Listen to all the whiners! Probably most of them live in gated compounds in affluent communities where if there was ever someone selling drugs near their kids, they would call the SWAT Team in two seconds flat. Those of us real people who live in real L.A. neighborhoods know better. We have seen that after these marijuana dispensaries open, there is more crime, more vandalism, more people buying pot at dispensaries and then re-selling it on the streets, more stoned people causing problems, more people driving under the influence and getting in car accidents. If you want to smoke pot in your own home, go ahead, no one cares! But keep your pot stores out of our neighborhoods and away from our families!

[B Clemenb]

legalize it and things like this won't happen
It will also help solve the budget crisis

[pcm]

Relax. Remember the anti-smoking movement. It began here in fits and starts, now you can't smoke publicly in Spain. Soon, pot will be legal here, then go worldwide within 2 to 3 years. Those most damaged will be the ultra violent cartels. Even the RED states will legalize because of one reason even they can't ignore: tax $. Lynch is a casualty for sure, but I suspect he won't do the whole sentence. What he has achieved is to nationally highlight the impotence and futility of the drug war.

[Caroline "Stage 4 Cancer" C.]

Damn these laws to hell.

I was a recreational pot smoker until I found I had stage 4 cancer. Well, the treatments were brutal. You have no bloody idea what we go thru to get treated. I had almost a year of heavy chemo, not to mention five surgeries, two of which have caused me so much pain, even months after, that at many times I have thought of killing myself just to end the pain. And I have a lot to look forward to--I am in remission and expected to stay that way.

At the hospital after a major surgery, they kept me on a dilaudid drip. I hate that crap. It makes you have evil nightmares (happens to everyone I have talked to), it messes with your taste buds so everything tastes like crap, and it doesn't work very well to eliminate pain.

I learned about pot's analgesic effect while I was having unreal bladder spasms that hurt like a hot knife, pressing my dilaudid button every ten minutes and still wanting to just give up and die. Indescribable pain. A friend brought me some pot and a pipe. I smoked. A few hours later a nurse came in and said "Caroline, our computer says you have not been requesting Dilaudid for a few hours so I came into see what was wrong." The pot had put me in a state of relaxation and erased the pain. That's as close to bliss as you get alone in a bed.

I am a convert to medical MJ and I HATE that poor people can't just grow their own.Cultivation is interesting and fun, and smoking is even better.

And you know what? We shouldn't have to justify legalization with medical use. Pot's a safe, fun social drug that is quite comparable to alcohol. Don't these idiots realize that kids will drink less and smoke more, and therefore die less often in car crashes?

I wish I could go cryo for five to ten years and thaw when pot is legal.

C

[Ezra]

I just wanted to respond to Aaron. Don't forget to stop drinking alcohol. Since alcohol is involved in a large number of murders every year. If you have a headache don't take aspirin as there are over 5,000 deaths in the U.S. every year that are caused by it. Hypocrites like you enfuriate me. The drug war is the cause of these murders. The black market is just meeting the demand. Also, most Americans smoke hydroponic weed which is produced in the U.S. I know the growers of the marijuana I smoke and they are family men not mobsters.

[Caroline "Stage 4 Cancer" C.]

Oh and by the way, I'd rather have a pot shop in my 'hood than a flippin' liquor store.

Alcohlics (I was one) are disgusting, often aggressive and totally boring and depressing as you can see them slowly dying.

Potheads on the other hand are kind of light, happy, and fun. Or at least quiet.

As I wrote in a copyrighted diatribe once, "On a long flight, would you rather sit next to a drunk or a stoner?"

CC