More Special Investigations From CBS13
May 18, 2009 1:34 pm US/Pacific
NorCal Pot Growing Rastafarian Sentenced To Prison
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. (AP) ―
A man who grew more than 25,000 marijuana plants along a Lake County highway has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
A prosecutor says the sentence that Judge Marilyn Patel imposed on Charles "Eddy" Lepp on Monday is the minimum sentence required under federal drug sentencing guidelines. A jury convicted the 56-year-old pot farmer in September on charges of cultivation and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute.
Lepp says he is a Rastafarian who grew marijuana for spiritual and medical reasons. He's appealing his conviction, arguing that he wasn't allowed to present a religious defense at trial.
After drug agents raided Lepp's easily visible farm in 2004, High Times magazine named him its "freedom fighter" of the year.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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