22-YEAR PRISON TERM FOR MODESTO MARIJUANA SELLER

FRESNO -- A Modesto man was sentenced in this afternoon to more than
two decades in prison for operating a medical marijuana dispensary.

Luke Scarmazzo, 28, was sentenced to 262 months in prison -- 21 years,
10 months -- in U.S. District Court in Fresno. His co-defendant,
Ricardo Ruiz Montes, 28, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Both were convicted in May of manufacturing marijuana and distributing
the drug, as well as operating a continuing criminal enterprise. The
two men operated a medical marijuana dispensary known as the
California Healthcare Collective that was raided by law enforcement
officials in September 2006.