West Hollywood Medical Marijuana Owner Pleads Guilty

A former West Hollywood medical marijuana dispensary operator who was previously convicted of trying to burn a rival’s home down pleaded guilty Monday to a federal conspiracy charge.

Andrew Harrison Kramer, 41, of West Hollywood, entered his plea in Los Angeles federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute at least 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.

Kramer was associated with eight dispensaries throughout the area, including Zen Healing, one of only four such shops allowed to operate in West Hollywood.

Federal prosecutors said Monday that Kramer and at least five associates shipped pot to South Carolina and elsewhere in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds.

In return for Kramer’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to ask for a prison sentence of more than 16 years to be served concurrently with his previous sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Childs told the court.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner set sentencing for Jan. 25.

Last year, Kramer pleaded guilty in state court to one count each of conspiracy to commit home invasion robbery, stalking and attempt to burn, along with three counts of arson of an inhabited structure and two counts of arson, along with allegations that an accelerant was used.

According to a plea deal in that case, Kramer agreed to do 25 years behind bars while also facing as much as $1 million in restitution, according to prosecutors.

Kramer admitting hiring others who in turn attacked his former landlord, George Lanning, and members of Lanning’s family, including his wife and three adult children, prosecutors said.

The family’s Beverly Hills home was set ablaze on two occasions between July 2008 and September 2012; a family-owned house under construction on San Vicente Boulevard was destroyed in an arson fire; and two Molotov cocktails were thrown onto an apartment roof above the West Hollywood medical marijuana dispensary, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

On another occasion, four men entered the family’s Beverly Hills home and struck Lanning’s wife, Nansee, in the head with a metal bar and punched and kicked his son, Justin, according to the prosecution.

City News Service