Pot Shop Co-Owner Sentenced to Probation

The co-owner of a Lake Forest marijuana dispensary pleaded guilty Monday to possession of marijuana for sale and was sentenced to a year of probation.

Three other charges of selling marijuana were dismissed against Tara Elizabeth Sorenson, 23, of Rancho Santa Margarita, according to court records.

Sorenson co-owned the Health Collective on Raymond Way in Lake Forest
with Steven John Wick, 27, of Rancho Santa Margarita, who pleaded guilty on
April 6, 2010, to selling and possessing marijuana. He was sentenced to four
years in prison under his plea deal with the District Attorney's office.

Wick admitted possessing more than $25,000 in profits from selling marijuana, according to prosecutors.

Co-defendant Marilyn Geneva Manuel, 30, of Rancho Santa Margarita, who managed the marijuana dispensary, also pleaded guilty in April 2010 to felony possession of marijuana for sale and was sentenced to a year in Orange County jail and three years of formal probation.

Under her plea deal, prosecutors said she wouldn't have to do any jail time if she completed probation without getting into trouble.

Sorenson could have faced up to six years and eight months in prison if convicted at trial.

-- City News Service