Friday, Nov. 21, 2008

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.