Hearing Today for Pot Dispensary Owner

UPDATE: Judge Hilleri G. Merritt gave Joseph's attorney until August 12 to collect more financial records on all the raids to the collective. A preliminary hearing will be set within 30 days from that date. 

Organica owner Jeffrey Keith Joseph is scheduled for a preliminary hearing today regarding 24 drug-related felony counts in connection with his medical marijuana collective that straddles the Los Angeles and Culver City border.

The charges against Joseph include money laundering, possession of marijuana  for sale and the illegal sale of it. He pleaded not guilty in February after a raid by Los Angeles police and federal authorities.

The collective had been raided twice before and in April Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ordered it closed.

According to reports  Joseph was jailed in lieu of $520,000 bail.  After a bail review in March, that figure was reduced to $200,000 and Joseph was released. He is required to wear an electronic monitor and can go to prearranged grocery shopping trips,  meetings at his attorney's office and employment interviews. 

The premlinary hearing will be held at the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building downtown.

Although medical marijuana dispensaries are legal in California, they are not allowed within Culver City limits because they "do not comply with federal law," said Councilman Jeffrey Cooper. Applicants seeking business licenses in Culver City must meet both federal and state laws, he said.

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