The Obama administration says it wants the owner of a Central California medical marijuana dispensary to be sentenced to at least five years in prison, despite his assertion that he was following state law.

Responding to federal judge's query about the case of Charles Lynch, former operator of Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County), a Justice Department official said Lynch's prosecution and conviction were "entirely consistent with the policies of (the department) and with public statements made by the attorney general," Eric Holder.

Holder, citing President Obama's campaign pledge to respect medical marijuana laws in California and 12 other states, told reporters March 18 that federal agents would arrest only those who violated both state and federal law.

He didn't say, however, how his policy would apply to defendants awaiting trial or sentencing, or whether the administration would defer to local authorities' decision that a marijuana dispensary was complying with state law.

The Justice Department's filing late Friday in Lynch's case, its first since Holder's comments, did not explain its position. But by saying that the prosecution followed the attorney general's policy, the department appeared to be asserting that Lynch had been breaking state law, even though he was convicted only of violating federal law.

"They're not allowing local politicians, local police departments to handle the issue ... of who is violating state law," Reuven Cohen, a deputy federal public defender who represents Lynch, said Monday.

He said the Lynch case showed that "the federal government from Washington, D.C., ... through its (local) branches will be the arbiter."

Lynch, 47, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Los Angeles for distributing marijuana from a dispensary that federal agents raided in 2007. The sentencing was postponed for a month after U.S. District Judge George Wu noted Holder's recent comments and asked for a written statement of the department's prosecution policy.

The new statement is also consistent with comments by the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, Joseph Russoniello, that his office will target marijuana suppliers and traffickers who violate state as well as federal law, even if they hold local operating permits.

Operators of two locally licensed pot dispensaries in Alameda County, raided during President George W. Bush's administration, face trial on charges filed by Russoniello's office. Advocates say at least two dozen defendants in California are in the same situation.

In Lynch's case, federal law requires at least a five-year sentence. But Cohen said he would argue that the judge has the authority to grant probation, with no prison time, following the example of a San Francisco federal judge nearly six years ago in the Ed Rosenthal case.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced Rosenthal, a prominent marijuana advocate, to a day in jail rather than the five-year mandatory minimum in June 2003 for cultivating marijuana. The judge said Rosenthal had reasonably believed he was acting legally, as a designated supplier for Oakland's medical cannabis program.

Lynch makes a similar claim, saying elected officials and police in Morro Bay welcomed his dispensary during the one year of its operation.

Dale Gieringer, California coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he has photos of the mayor and City Council members attending the grand opening in 2006.

The latest court filing shows "business as usual at the Justice Department ... tremendous institutional inertia on the side of the status quo," Gieringer said.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Lynch had sold $2.1 million in marijuana products for profit. "Any 'care' existed only on paper," they said.