Upper Lake's Lepp convicted
melodious
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in pot case
Faces 10 years to life in state prison
By Tiffany Revelle -- Staff reporter
Article Last Updated: 09/06/2008 03:24:25 AM PDT
LAKE COUNTY -- A jury convicted Upper Lake resident Charles "Eddy" Lepp Thursday of cultivating and possessing more than 1,000 marijuana plants with the intent to distribute them, according to U.S. District Court, Northern California District records.
Lepp faces 10 years to life in state prison, according to his San Francisco defense attorney Michael Hinckley. Federal agents and Lake County Sheriff's Department officials raided Lepp's 20-acre garden in August 2004 and seized more than 32,000 plants. The incident spurred a legal battle, with Lepp claiming the marijuana was to be used for religious and medical purposes.
"As long as the state and federal governments are in conflict on the issue of medical marijuana, regrettable consequences like Eddy going to occur again," Hinckley said Friday.
Hinckley said even though the 2004 search was deemed by the court to be improper, the fact that Lepp's marijuana crop was across Highway 20 from an open strawberry field meant he could still be prosecuted for possessing the marijuana.
A 2005 United States Supreme Court ruling upheld the federal government's authority to prosecute marijuana growers, despite the passage of California's Compassionate Use Act, which says marijuana can be grown and used for medical purposes.
Hinckley said his defense strategy was two-fold. The 2005 Supreme Court ruling struck down the first, which was that Lepp's actions were legal under the Compassionate Use Act. The second
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strategy was that Lepp grew the marijuana on behalf of church members, not for personal use.
Lepp said in a prior interview that he is a Rastafarian and ordained minister of the Universal Church of Life. He said he makes plots of ground available to members of his church who want to grow marijuana for medical use.
Hinckley said Lepp has remained out of prison for four years, and presiding U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel has allowed him to travel to Amsterdam for a yearly hemp festival because he was not found to be a flight risk. Lepp was at a hemp festival in Portland Friday and could not be reached by the Record-Bee for comment at press time.
Hinckley said Lepp was "sad and disappointed" when the verdict was announced.
"We filed a lot of motions in the case which were denied, and Eddie disagreed with the judge's rulings, but we're hopeful," Hinckley said of the appeal he plans to file in December.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com or call her direct at 263-5636 ext. 37.
Faces 10 years to life in state prison
By Tiffany Revelle -- Staff reporter
Article Last Updated: 09/06/2008 03:24:25 AM PDT
LAKE COUNTY -- A jury convicted Upper Lake resident Charles "Eddy" Lepp Thursday of cultivating and possessing more than 1,000 marijuana plants with the intent to distribute them, according to U.S. District Court, Northern California District records.
Lepp faces 10 years to life in state prison, according to his San Francisco defense attorney Michael Hinckley. Federal agents and Lake County Sheriff's Department officials raided Lepp's 20-acre garden in August 2004 and seized more than 32,000 plants. The incident spurred a legal battle, with Lepp claiming the marijuana was to be used for religious and medical purposes.
"As long as the state and federal governments are in conflict on the issue of medical marijuana, regrettable consequences like Eddy going to occur again," Hinckley said Friday.
Hinckley said even though the 2004 search was deemed by the court to be improper, the fact that Lepp's marijuana crop was across Highway 20 from an open strawberry field meant he could still be prosecuted for possessing the marijuana.
A 2005 United States Supreme Court ruling upheld the federal government's authority to prosecute marijuana growers, despite the passage of California's Compassionate Use Act, which says marijuana can be grown and used for medical purposes.
Hinckley said his defense strategy was two-fold. The 2005 Supreme Court ruling struck down the first, which was that Lepp's actions were legal under the Compassionate Use Act. The second
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strategy was that Lepp grew the marijuana on behalf of church members, not for personal use.
Lepp said in a prior interview that he is a Rastafarian and ordained minister of the Universal Church of Life. He said he makes plots of ground available to members of his church who want to grow marijuana for medical use.
Hinckley said Lepp has remained out of prison for four years, and presiding U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel has allowed him to travel to Amsterdam for a yearly hemp festival because he was not found to be a flight risk. Lepp was at a hemp festival in Portland Friday and could not be reached by the Record-Bee for comment at press time.
Hinckley said Lepp was "sad and disappointed" when the verdict was announced.
"We filed a lot of motions in the case which were denied, and Eddie disagreed with the judge's rulings, but we're hopeful," Hinckley said of the appeal he plans to file in December.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com or call her direct at 263-5636 ext. 37.
all insanity:
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
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It is amazing that someone could get 10 to life for growing an herb, but someone who rapes or kills someone can plea bargain to a few years behind bars. Makes no sense.
Agree with you wholeheartedly...
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
:( :( :(
If I opened it now would you not understand?
I pray to see no fences...
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
that said, these laws are absurd. and that supreme court decision is fucking bullshit. the justices who have been bitching for years about strictly interpreting the constitution and limiting the federal government's influence suddenly managed to read the commerce clause in such an absurdly expansive way that it reveals their prior rhetoric as the bullshit it always has been.