COEUR d'ALENE - After serving a prison term, a former Coeur d'Alene chiropractor is suing the Idaho Board of Chiropractic Physicians in an effort to regain his license.

Burk A. Thomas, former owner of Avanti Health at 850 W. Ironwood Drive, was sentenced to seven months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2015 to manufacturing hashish oil in his Spokane Valley home.

Avanti Health, which Thomas helped open in 2010, is still in business but is now under different ownership.

Due to Thomas' guilty plea and sentence, per court documents, the Idaho Board of Chiropractic Physicians imposed a two-year suspension of his license.

Thomas wants the suspension reduced to one year. He filed a motion for reconsideration of his sentence Dec. 22, 2016, but it was recently denied.

Following a suspicious fire in September 2014, authorities searched Thomas' home, finding hashish oil, guns and more than 1,300 rounds of ammunition.

Thomas was arrested after investigators discovered the fire had been intentionally set at a Spokane location he planned to use to open a marijuana business. He and another man were accused of conspiring to commit arson to collect insurance money.

Thomas, whom witnesses told authorities had a medical marijuana card, was hit with 11 charges, ranging from conspiracy to commit arson to possession with intent to distribute. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to manufacturing hashish oil and forfeited the guns and ammunition.

His lawyers believe the validity of the law to which he pleaded guilty has been called into question by the Ninth Circuit, referencing the United States vs. McIntosh case.

In August 2016, a U.S. appeals court decided unanimously that the federal government may not prosecute people who grow and distribute medical marijuana if they are complying with state laws. Thomas had already pleaded guilty before the ruling in the McIntosh case, the court documents said.

"Thomas has not practiced chiropractic medicine since March 2016 and has satisfied the custody portion of his sentence," the court documents read. "Additionally, he never had any prior disciplinary actions against his license, thereby maintaining good standing with the Board."