Charles Lynch waited in federal court Thursday, surrounded by supporters, including members of the so-called Green Team, for yet another day in his nearly 17-year battle over his former medical marijuana dispensary.

Lynch wore an Apple Watch that displayed changing backgrounds for his paintings depicting marijuana (including one of the Statue of Liberty smoking a joint). The former pharmacy secretary wore a marijuana-colored green blazer. Was it a deliberate choice? “That's right,” she said.

They were there hoping for an end to the criminal case that has been going on since Lynch was arrested on federal charges in 2007, but they found out around noon.

U.S. District Judge George H. Wu signed a diversion agreement that essentially allowed Lynch's criminal record to be completely expunged in 72 days.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Lynch's previous felony conviction for federal drug violations will be dismissed in April. He will have no criminal history.

Asked outside court how he was feeling, Lynch said: “I can't describe it.”

“It's been so long that I've lost a lot of feeling,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I intend to be a good law-abiding citizen and wait another 72 days until this case is fully concluded, as I have been for the past 17 years.”

After his arrest, Lynch lost his California home in bankruptcy and eventually moved into a single-wide trailer on his mother's property in New Mexico. No one would hire him with “a federal lawsuit hanging over my head,” he said.

When asked what would happen next, Lynch said he didn't know.

“There's talk that we're trying to do something new here in California, but we don't know what we want to do yet,” he said. “In a way, I'm a little bitter that California left me behind for so long. But I'm going to take that chip off my shoulder and move on.”

Lynch's original federal public defender, Reuben Cohen, wiped away his own tears Thursday.

“I think a lot of people have forgotten about Charlie Lynch,” Cohen said. “He took a brave stand 17 years ago on behalf of all the people on the Central Coast who really wanted to help.”

In April 2006, Lynch opened a medical marijuana dispensary in the seaside city of Morro Bay. At the time, there were no such pharmacies in San Luis Obispo County.

The mayor, city attorney and members of the Chamber of Commerce attended a ribbon cutting for the Central Coast Compassionate Caregiver Clinic. The photo showed the mayor smiling and shaking hands with Lynch.

California has allowed the cultivation, use and sale of medical marijuana recommended by doctors under certain circumstances, but federal law, independent of state regulation, bans the drug entirely.

Nearly a year after Lynch opened the pharmacy, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued search warrants for the store and his home. A few months later, in July 2007, authorities arrested him.

The following year, a jury convicted Lynch of five counts of violating federal drug laws. In June 2009, Wu sentenced Lynch to one year and one day in prison.

After sentencing, Lynch appealed his conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The government filed a counter-appeal, insisting on a minimum five-year mandate.

Charles Lynch (left) and his mother Bodine Jones arrive at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles.

(Irrfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

In a September 2018 decision, the Ninth Circuit upheld Lynch's conviction. On the government's counter-appeal, the government found it necessary to sentence Lynch to the mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.

The commission also noted that there is controversy over whether Mr. Lynch's activities are legal under state law. The case was remanded to the District Court for that decision, and again to Wu's trial.

After the Jan. 22 hearing and before the judge handed down his sentence, the government offered Lynch a plea deal.

He agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. Prosecutors will recommend a time-limited sentence, meaning Lynch will not spend a day in jail.

Lynch waited outside the federal courthouse Thursday with his mother, Bodine Jones, and Gina Armstrong, a former secretary at a Morro Bay pharmacy, when the plea deal was announced to Wu.

Also in attendance that day were several members of Mr. Lynch's “green team,” the federal public defenders who represented him during the lengthy court process.

Jones didn't sleep much and was thinking about the next day and their future, she said.

“Our lives have changed in 17 years,” Jones said. She was 67 years old when it all started. Currently she is 84 years old.

“I'm glad it's still standing after all these years,” she said. “I hope this is over and we can get on with our lives.”

Then another wrinkle appeared.

Cohen said Justice Department guidelines do not allow for an argument to that effect because misdemeanor possession of marijuana is now a permissible crime. Instead, the government worked with Lynch to propose a diversion agreement.

By signing the agreement, Lynch conditionally admitted to possessing marijuana with intent to distribute. He agreed not to violate any laws during his diversion period and to pay a $2,500 fine. Then the government will overrule everything.

Mr. Cohen gave “all credit” to Detective Chief Mac Jenkins, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally, and Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

“Mr. Jenkins conducted himself with great dignity and made judgments that the United States Attorney's Office could be truly proud of,” Cohen said.

Prosecutors suggested a 60-day deferral, but Lynch countered with a 72-day deferral.

He wanted his record expunged on April 20th.

4/20.