As Seal Beach medical marijuana criminal defense lawyers, we were disappointed to read that the operator of a Lake Forest dispensary has pleaded guilty to criminal drug charges. The OC Weekly reported April 6 that Steven John Wick, 26, pleaded guilty to state-law charges of possession of marijuana for sale and selling marijuana. Wick operated the Health Collective dispensary in Lake Forest until November of 2009. His manager, Marilynn Geneva Manuel, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of marijuana for sale. His co-owner, Tara Elizabeth Sorenson, 22, has been charged with three counts of selling marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana for sale.
Prosecutors in the case do not allege that Health Collective sold medical marijuana to people without a doctor's recommendation for it. However, they say state law does not allow medical marijuana sales from a dispensary. Instead, patients and their doctors must form collective or cooperative associations to grow and distribute the drug. The Health Collective defendants were accused of selling medical marijuana to customers with no cooperative or collective relationship with the dispensary. Wick's guilty plea will get him three years in prison, and a guilty plea expected in an earlier case is expected to get him another year. Manuel was sentenced to one year in prison, but the sentence was suspended as long as she completes three years of probation. Sorenson faces up to six years and eight months in prison if she is convicted on all counts.
Even though our Mission Viejo medical marijuana criminal defense attorneys support medical marijuana dispensaries, we understand why Wick and Manuel might have preferred a guilty plea. Wick's charges were the most serious, in part because his second set of charges came while he was out on bail from the first charges. Nonetheless, he is expected to serve less time than the maximum that Sorenson could face if convicted. A plea deal generally results in shorter sentences, but it also means prison, at least in serious cases, and a criminal conviction. In this case, there's a serious question about whether a crime was really committed. The guidelines set forth by California's attorney general, which are meant to guide law enforcement's actions, say explicitly that collective or cooperative storefront dispensaries may be legal as long as they follow the guidelines.
At Howard Law, P.C., we believe that many law enforcement officers don't like seeing legal medical marijuana, so they choose to read the law as narrowly as possible. This allows them to raid and arrest people at medical marijuana businesses that are operating within the AG's guidelines and paying taxes. This may be a political statement for the officers, but it has serious negative effects on the lives of the people who are arrested, thrown into jail and charged with multiple felonies. Our Leucadia medical marijuana criminal defense attorneys vigorously defend people who are charged with illegal sale of marijuana for participating in a collective or a cooperative. We can also negotiate beneficial plea deals, but prefer whenever possible to keep our clients out of prison when they acted with a good faith belief that they were following the law.
If you're accused of a crime because you bought, sold or possessed medical marijuana, you should call Howard Law, P.C. as soon as possible for help. To set up a free evaluation of your case, call us toll-free at 1-800-872-5925 or contact us online.
