Politics & Government
Medical Marijuna Dispensary Owner Sentenced To Probation
Hochanadel, who was arrested in December 2006, was free on his own recognizance during court proceedings and was released on probation Friday.
A Palm Springs medical marijuana dispensary owner who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge last month was sentenced today to three years probation.
Stacy Robert Hochanadel, owner of CannaHelp in Palm Springs, pleaded guilty on Feb. 6 to the unfair competition or unlawful or fraudulent business practices count as trial proceedings were scheduled to get underway.
After Riverside County Superior Court Judge James S. Hawkins handed down the probation sentence today, he granted Deputy District Attorney Anthony Fimbres' motion to dismiss felony charges of possession of marijuana for sale, transport and sale of marijuana and keeping a place to sell controlled substances, according to court records.
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Hochanadel, who was arrested in December 2006, was free on his own recognizance during court proceedings and was released on probation Friday.
In 2008, Riverside County Superior Court Judge David B. Downing ruled that a search warrant used to raid the defendant's Palm Desert dispensary was flawed because sheriff's Investigator Robert Garcia had not been trained to handle medical marijuana cases.
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The sheriff's department alleged the dispensary violated the state's medical marijuana law because it was turning a profit.
In August 2009, a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego unanimously ruled that Downing wrongly threw out the search warrant, and the Riverside County District Attorney's Office resumed the prosecution in late January 2010.
Hochanadel's attorney, Ulrich McNulty, said previously that Hochanadel had a business license and an agreement with the sheriff's department, and the business was being operated transparently.
Hochanadel opened CannaHelp, then known as Hempies, in September 2005.
His lease expired in September 2007, and he closed the collective following the Palm Desert City Council's decision to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. He reopened the dispensary in Palm Springs, where he has one of three permits to operate.
