MARIJUANA DEFENDANTS PUSH FOR LENIENCY

The former owner of a San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary that
was raided by federal agents in 2002 has agreed to plead guilty to
drug and tax charges and hopes to avoid a prison sentence, his lawyer
said Thursday.

Kenneth Hayes, 41, of Petaluma will admit at a hearing Wednesday that
he maintained a building where marijuana was distributed and filed a
false tax return, said attorney William Panzer. The plea agreement
came after Panzer tried to contact Attorney General Eric Holder and
seek dismissal of the case under the Obama administration's new policy.

In another case Thursday, a federal judge in Los Angeles postponed
sentencing until June for Charles Lynch, the former owner of a
Central Coast marijuana dispensary who, like Hayes, claimed he was
operating legally under state law. In response to the judge's
inquiry, Holder's office said last week that Lynch's prosecution was
consistent with administration policy and recommended a five-year sentence.

After eight years of frequent raids on California medical marijuana
sellers and their suppliers, Holder said last month that federal
agents would target only those who are violating state as well as
federal law. California is one of 13 states that have repealed
criminal penalties for furnishing and using marijuana with a doctor's
recommendation.

So far, however, the Justice Department has left it up to federal
prosecutors to decide whether marijuana suppliers, including those
licensed by local governments, were violating state law.

Hayes, who had been acquitted of state marijuana charges in 2001,
left for Canada to seek political asylum at the beginning of 2002,
six weeks before his Harm Reduction Center was raided. He was denied
asylum and went to Romania, where he lived until his arrest on
hashish charges last year, and then returned to the United States.

Co-defendant Ed Rosenthal, a prominent marijuana advocate, was
convicted in 2003 of supplying pot plants to the Harm Reduction
Center. He faced a mandatory five-year sentence under federal law,
but U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer released him on probation,
saying Rosenthal had reasonably believed he was acting legally.
Rosenthal has appealed his conviction.

Panzer said Breyer has made comments during court proceedings
indicating he intends the same lenient sentence for Hayes, despite
federal prosecutors' advocacy of a prison term. The lawyer said Hayes
worked closely with local authorities in setting up and operating the
storefront.

Panzer said he wrote a letter to Holder about Hayes, but the only
response was a phone call this week from U.S. Attorney Joseph
Russoniello, who told him the attorney general's policy had no effect
on his case. Russoniello has taken the same position on other
marijuana cases, saying locally licensed dispensaries have no shield
from federal prosecution.

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, lawyers for Lynch and the federal
prosecutor's office argued over whether he should be sentenced to
five years for distributing marijuana from Central Coast
Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County).

Lynch, 47, said local authorities, including police officers,
welcomed his dispensary and cooperated with him in the one year of
its operation before a 2007 federal raid. Prosecutors said he sold
$2.1 million worth of marijuana for profit.