Pot Dispensary Owner Sentenced

Jeffrey Keith Joseph, the former operator of a medical marijuana dispensary in Culver City, was sentenced today to a year in county jail, 500 hours of community labor and five years' probation. 

Joseph, the former operator of Organica, has also been barred from selling marijuana and can possess only a limited amount for personal medical needs upon a doctor’s recommendation, said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gail Ruderman Feuer.  

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, the Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating the dispensary after fliers for Organica were distributed at a local high school. Officers raided the dispensary in August 2009, seizing 80 kilograms of marijuana, 450 plants and 125 kilograms of edible marijuana products, officials said.

Organica has been raided three times in its history.

Joseph was charged in February 2010 after a financial investigation revealed that the dispensary’s average monthly income was $400,000. He pleaded no contest in March of that year to two counts each of marijuana sales and money laundering.

If Joseph complies with the rules of his probation, he will not have to serve a four-year state prison term, per the judge. Joseph was immediately taken into custody after being sentenced.

One of Joseph's attorneys, Charles L. Lindner, said he believed the sentence the judge imposed was “very reasonable and well thought out.”   

City News Service contributed to this report.

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