MISSOULA – A 34-year-old Whitefish man who helped run a medical marijuana business that was raided by federal agents earlier this year has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Ryan Gifford Blindheim on Tuesday and ordered him to forfeit $86,850. Blindheim previously pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
He and co-defendant Evan James Corum, also of Whitefish, operated the Black Pearl dispensary in Olney. The business was one of 26 locations raided in March as part of a medical marijuana crackdown in the state. Prosecutors say agents seized 488 plants and 70 pounds of bulk marijuana.
Corum pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced Dec. 1 to six months in prison and six months of house arrest.