Religious Minister Busted for Holy Grow House
May 27th, 2009 by Russ
When openly defying the federal government, it’s often a good idea to spread the evidence of your crimes around a little. Take the example of Charles “Eddy” Lepp, a minister of the The Universal Life Church who was busted for maintaining a garden of over 32,000 marijuana plants.
While Charles Lepp claimed to be using the plants for religious purposes, local officials were skeptical. Lepp was sentenced to ten years in prison a week ago by a Northern California District Court, to the outrage of hundreds of friends and followers in the courtroom.
The Universal Life Church is already on the radar of federal officials who have accused the group of forming a faux religion as a tax dodge. It is well known as having ordained tens of millions of people (including yours truly) to perform religious or secular ceremonies, or simply to refer to themselves as Reverend.
Fun internet phenomena aside, there doesn’t seem to be a religious exemption to growing 20 acres of ganja without a permit.
