Case Reopened Against Owner of Medical Marijuana Collective

The owner of a medical marijuana collective pleaded not guilty to illegally operating a dispensary in Palm Desert.

In 2006 Stacy Hochanadel, owner of CannaHelp, was charged with felony possession of marijuana for sale, transportation and sale of marijuana, and keeping a place to sell controlled substances. The charges were dismissed, however, due to a lack of evidence. The judge also ruled that the affidavit used to get the search warrant to search Hochanadel’s property was flawed because the sheriff’s investigator on the case was not properly trained in handling medical marijuana cases. The judge also said the investigator wrongly asserted that the dispensary made $1.6 million in profits.

In August, the appeals court ruled that the judge should not have thrown out the search warrant, and that there was probably cause to believe Hochanadel was engaged in criminal activity. The case was reopened and resumed where it left off. Before the judge dismissed the charges, the case was slated to go to trial.

Hochanadel’s attorney, Ulrich McNulty, says his client had a business license to operate the collective, as well as an agreement with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. McNulty says Hochanadel was operating a legit business across all fronts and was adhering to state guidelines. Today, Hochanadel has a permit from the city of Palm Springs to operate his collective.