Man faces possible life in prison for pot brownies

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KGO) -- A 19-year-old man in Texas who's accused of making and selling pot brownies faces the possibility of life in prison.

Hundreds gathered outside a Texas courthouse on Thursday to show their support for Jacob Lavoro.

His father Joe Lavoro called the potential punishment "outrageous."

"Five years to life? I'm sorry, I'm a law-abiding citizen, I'm a conservative, but I'll be damned," he said. "This is wrong."

It's a head-scratcher of a case. Prosecutors have charged this high school football player, who until now had a clean record, with a first degree felony. It's a charge usually associated with murder or rape.

"I've been doing this 22 years as a lawyer and I've got 10 years as a police officer and I've never seen anything like this before," Jack Holmes, Jacob's defense attorney.

The severe charge stems from Lavoro's brownie recipe and ingredients. Instead of regular pot he allegedly mixed in hash oil, which has a far higher concentration of marijuana. Under Texas law, that oil can be treated like a more serious narcotic.

And because the oil was cooked into the brownies the whole batch -- including the sugar, flour, and eggs -- was weighed against him. Police are charging him with possessing 1.5 pounds of drugs.

"They've weighed baked in this case and they've made it a first degree felony when it should be a misdemeanor," Holmes said.

Inside Lavoro's apartment, police say they found even more paraphernalia.

"Some hash oil as well as some brownies and cookies that were packaged up for sale."

"If he did something wrong he should be punished but to the extent that makes sense," said Joe. "This is illogical. I'm really upset."

Lavoro has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces five years to life behind bars.