# York notary convicted of cannabis petition crimes appeals convictions  
**Published:** 2026-05-27T10:15:42.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/former-nebraska-medical-cannabis-notary-appeals-criminal-convictions/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/york-notary-convicted-of-cannabis-petition-crimes-appeals-convictions

A York notary convicted of improper notarizations on Nebraska's 2024 medical cannabis petitions has filed an appeal of his 24 criminal convictions, according to [reporting from the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/former-nebraska-medical-cannabis-notary-appeals-criminal-convictions/).

Jacy C. Todd, 55, was found guilty in February of 23 counts of official misconduct, each a Class II misdemeanor, and one count of making a false statement under oath. Hall County Court Judge Alfred Corey sentenced Todd to a $3,866.44 fine due by mid-April 2027, with no jail time.

Todd and his attorney, Mark Porto, filed a notice of intent to appeal the conviction and sentence in a one-page order filed May 11, which will be reviewed by Hall County District Court.

The jury found Todd guilty of notarizing petitions without the presence of paid circulator Michael K. Egbert of Grand Island, a requirement under Nebraska law. According to the defense, Todd did not realize that notarizations are required to be completed with the person still present and that this violated notary rules.

Judge Alfred Corey initially dismissed the criminal case against Todd, agreeing with his attorney that notaries are not public officials who can be criminally prosecuted for official misconduct. Hall County District Court Judge Andrew Butler reversed that decision in April 2025, but questioned the prosecutorial resources being used when considering the state's support for medical cannabis.

Nearly 71% of voters voted to legalize medical cannabis in 2024, and about 67% voted to regulate it. Even without Todd's valid signatures, the 2024 Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign gathered enough signatures to have still qualified for the 2024 ballot.

Todd testified in an October 2024 deposition during a separate Lancaster County civil case seeking to invalidate the medical cannabis petitions that he always notarized correctly, but prosecutors said Todd lied and that his statements could have had a material effect on the outcome of that lawsuit, which is now before the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Todd and his attorney have said they will appeal on a claim that the trial was tainted from its beginning after prosecutors interrupted a key part of Porto's opening statement.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/former-nebraska-medical-cannabis-notary-appeals-criminal-convictions/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/former-nebraska-medical-cannabis-notary-appeals-criminal-convictions/.