NEWS: Carson man who formerly owned dispensaries gets 6 years for dealing pot

A Carson man who formerly owned and operated six Los Angeles-area medical marijuana dispensaries was sentenced Monday to six years behind bars and three years of supervised release for conspiring to peddle pot for profit.

Virgil Edward Grant III, 42, pleaded guilty last June in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana.

Grant claimed his dispensaries were community-enhancing "co-ops" that operated in accordance with California's medical marijuana law. However, he was charged under federal law, which prohibits the cultivation and sale of marijuana for profit.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said at sentencing that Grant was "not credible" in his argument that he was running his dispensaries as non- profit clinics.

Source: Daily Breeze