NEWS: Medical Marijuana shop owner James Stacy pleads guilty to felony drug charge

SAN DIEGO ---- A Vista man who ran a medical marijuana dispensary pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of manufacturing marijuana, a spokeswoman for the San Diego U.S. Attorney's Office said.

James Stacy, 46, had faced nine federal drug charges arising from a raid of his dispensary, Movement in Action. He pleaded guilty to only the one charge, said Debra Hartman of the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that Stacy be sentenced to three years probation, according to federal court documents filed Tuesday. Stacy is set to be formally sentenced Jan. 7.

Stacy's now-defunct medical marijuana store on South Santa Fe Avenue was one of 14 San Diego County shops raided by local and federal authorities Sept. 9, 2009. A search of the Vista shop turned up eight dozen marijuana plants and a semiautomatic gun.

Of the 30 people arrested during the raids, San Diego County prosecutors criminally charged only one person and federal prosecutors charged two people: Stacy and Joseph Nunes, who ran a San Diego pot shop for medical patients. Nunes has since pleaded guilty.

Source: North County Times