LOS ANGELES — The owner of a California medical marijuana dispensary was sentenced Thursday to a reduced term of a year and a day in prison in a closely watched case that could have implications in states where federal and local laws clash.
U.S. District Judge George Wu found that the case of Charles Lynch, 47, merited an exception to a mandatory minimum five-year sentence that guidelines called for.
Lynch’s conviction on five marijuana-related offenses was one of the first in the nation to be challenged in federal court after the Obama administration adjusted pot policy.
Lynch sought leniency after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced earlier this year that federal agents will now target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state laws.
Cultivating, using and selling medical pot to authorized patients is allowed under California law, and a dozen other states allow medical use of the drug. But federal law outlaws marijuana cultivation, use and sales.
Pot advocates hope Holder’s statements will clear up legal questions about federal marijuana cases in states where medicinal use is allowed.
