SAN FRANCISCO, May 5 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court has upheld the 10-year prison sentence given the first California supplier of medical marijuana convicted of federal charges.
Bryan Epis of Chico in northern California was arrested in 1997 when investigators found 458 marijuana plants in his home and convicted after a trial in federal court in Sacramento. Prosecutors charged that he was growing marijuana for a profit, but Epis, who had a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for neck and back pain, said he was growing it for his own use and to share with a few others with medical problems.