Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Dispensary Owner's Sentencing Delayed

Former Organica Collective operator Jeffrey Keith Joseph will now be sentenced Sept. 2.

The sentencing of a former owner of a popular medical marijuana dispensary on the Culver City-Los Angeles border was delayed Friday, said a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. Jeffrey Keith Joseph, 42, will appear in court Sept. 2 for sentencing on charges related to the improper operations of Organica Collective.

Joseph pleaded no contest to two counts each of possession of marijuana and money laundering in March. He faces a minimum sentence of five years' probation after 180 days in county jail and a maximum sentence of up to four years in state prison under the terms of a settlement agreement negotiated with prosecutors, who originally charged Joseph with 24 felony drug counts related to the operations of Organica Collective.

Joseph pleaded not guilty to all charges in February before agreeing to the settlement and re-entering his plea a month later.

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Medical marijuana must be distributed on a nonprofit basis according to California law, but investigators contend that Organica made an average of $400,000 per month.

The charges followed an extensive Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that lasted several months. Investigators seized 450 plants, 80 kilograms of marijuana, 125 kilograms of edible marijuana products and 12 kilograms of hash oil during an August 2009 raid of Organica.

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Organica closed down for good in February 2010 when law enforcement officers raided the dispensary for the third and final time.

Joseph remains free on bail and is living with his sister in Ventura.


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