UPPER LAKE'S LEPP CONVICTED IN POT CASE

Faces 10 Years to Life in State Prison

LAKE COUNTY -- A jury convicted Upper Lake resident Charles "Eddy"
Lepp Thursday of cultivating and possessing more than 1,000 marijuana
plants with the intent to distribute them, according to U.S. District
Court, Northern California District records.

Lepp faces 10 years to life in state prison, according to his San
Francisco defense attorney Michael Hinckley. Federal agents and Lake
County Sheriff's Department officials raided Lepp's 20-acre garden in
August 2004 and seized more than 32,000 plants. The incident spurred
a legal battle, with Lepp claiming the marijuana was to be used for
religious and medical purposes.

"As long as the state and federal governments are in conflict on the
issue of medical marijuana, regrettable consequences like Eddy going
to occur again," Hinckley said Friday.

Hinckley said even though the 2004 search was deemed by the court to
be improper, the fact that Lepp's marijuana crop was across Highway
20 from an open strawberry field meant he could still be prosecuted
for possessing the marijuana.

A 2005 United States Supreme Court ruling upheld the federal
government's authority to prosecute marijuana growers, despite the
passage of California's Compassionate Use Act, which says marijuana
can be grown and used for medical purposes.

Hinckley said his defense strategy was two-fold. The 2005 Supreme
Court ruling struck down the first, which was that Lepp's actions
were legal under the Compassionate Use Act. The second strategy was
that Lepp grew the marijuana on behalf of church members, not for personal use.

Lepp said in a prior interview that he is a Rastafarian and ordained
minister of the Universal Church of Life. He said he makes plots of
ground available to members of his church who want to grow marijuana
for medical use.

Hinckley said Lepp has remained out of prison for four years, and
presiding U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel has allowed him to
travel to Amsterdam for a yearly hemp festival because he was not
found to be a flight risk. Lepp was at a hemp festival in Portland
Friday and could not be reached by the Record-Bee for comment at press time.

Hinckley said Lepp was "sad and disappointed" when the verdict was announced.

"We filed a lot of motions in the case which were denied, and Eddie
disagreed with the judge's rulings, but we're hopeful," Hinckley said
of the appeal he plans to file in December.