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Businessman gets 4 weeks for attempted pandering

Published: January 8, 2013 Comment on this article

photo - In this undated photograph provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Michael Gilliland, the founder of Sunflower Farmers Market, is shown. Gilliland was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, to four weeks in jail for his guilty plea to misdemeanor attempted pandering. Authorities say Gilliland agreed to pay $100 for sex in February 2011 in a police sting in which an undercover officer posed as a 17-year-old prostitute. Prosecutors say Gilliland showed up at a Phoenix hotel to meet the undercover even though she told the businessman during an earlier phone conversation that she was 17. (AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)

In this undated photograph provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Michael Gilliland, the founder of Sunflower Farmers Market, is shown. Gilliland was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, to four weeks in jail for his guilty plea to misdemeanor attempted pandering. Authorities say Gilliland agreed to pay $100 for sex in February 2011 in a police sting in which an undercover officer posed as a 17-year-old prostitute. Prosecutors say Gilliland showed up at a Phoenix hotel to meet the undercover even though she told the businessman during an earlier phone conversation that she was 17. (AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)

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Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lynch, who sentenced Gilliland, said the businessman had no previous criminal history and had donated money in the past to worthy causes.

"It's clear that you have taken responsibility. It's clear that you have shown remorse," Lynch said.

Jean-Jacques Cabou, a lawyer for Gilliland, said the arrest cost his client his job, tarnished his reputation and overshadowed his philanthropic work. "This was a terrible choice," Cabou said.

Gilliland, who lives in the upscale Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, is now launching a Midwest-based chain of food markets.

He had founded Sunflower Farmers Market and Wild Oats Markets Inc. Wild Oats was acquired by Whole Foods Market Inc. in 2007.

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