LOS ANGELES  Government lawyers asked a federal judge on Thursday to impose a five-year sentence on the owner of a marijuana dispensary, less than a month after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that federal authorities would not prosecute owners of medical marijuana shops if they complied with local and state laws.

But the United States attorney for the Central District of California, Thomas P. O’Brien, argued that the dispensary owner, Charles C. Lynch, had broken state laws because he was not a primary caregiver to his customers  a requirement under California law  and provided no medical services beyond the sale of marijuana.

Judge George H. Wu, a Bush appointee who is hearing his first federal case, postponed sentencing until June 11, by which time he will receive final briefings from government and defense lawyers. Judge Wu seemed inclined at times Thursday to hand down a lighter sentence than the government was seeking but repeatedly said he was constrained by federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Mr. Lynch, who ran a small dispensary in the surfing hamlet of Morro Bay, has become a symbol for the medical marijuana movement since his shop was raided in 2007. A registered business owner, Mr. Lynch has the support of the city’s mayor and the city attorney, both of whom testified on his behalf Thursday.