Penticton mayor’s race is no longer this candidate’s biggest battle

PENTICTON – A Penticton mayoral candidate is fighting not only a political battle, but a legal one as well.

Jukka Laurio appeared briefly in Penticton court today, Sept. 26, for a first appearance on a single charge of possession of a controlled substance (cannabis) for the purpose of trafficking, at or near Okanagan Falls on May 30, 2018.

The charges stem from an RCMP raid on Herbal Green Apothecary on Main Street in Okanagan Falls that took place on May 30.

Police said in a statement issued at the time the dispensary was selling cannabis products to the general public without requiring a medical note.

Laurio was given a copy of charges against him and provided with an opportunity to review the information. He returns to court on Oct. 17.

This is not Laurio’s first brush with the law. He was pursued by the City of Penticton to the point of having an injunction issued to shut down his marijuana dispensary  in 2017, and was issued the largest fine ever levied against a marijuana dispensary – $15,000 – in May of this year.

He has until Nov. 15 to pay the fine, or see it double to $30,500.

When Laurio ran for mayor in 2014, he said his crimes were in his past, after self-disclosing he was convicted of sexual assault and served a four-year term in an Agassiz prison several years ago.

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