A father and three sons have been convicted by a Miami federal court of earning $1 million through the sale of toxic bleach as a “miracle cure” for the coronavirus through a fake church.
Mark Grenon, 65, and sons Jonathan, 37, Joseph, 35, and Jordan, 29, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US government and FDA by distributing an unapproved, misbranded drug.
The jury also found Jonathan and Jordon guilty of two counts of violating federal court orders requiring them to stop selling the drug.
Conspiracy charges can carry up to five years in prison, and contempt charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. They will be sentenced in Miami on October 6.
The family began selling Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS)—a chemical solution containing sodium chlorite that, when mixed with water and a citric acid activator, “turns into chlorine dioxide”—from a bogus Florida church website to thousands of people in the U.S.—in 2010. Sales continued during the COVID pandemic.
Mark Grenon, 65, (pictured) and his sons were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US government and FDA by distributing an unapproved misbranded drug
The family sold Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), a chemical solution containing sodium chlorite that, when mixed with water and a citric acid activator, turns into chlorine dioxide
In April 2020, the FBI cracked down on the company after the Grenons defied FDA orders to stop distributing the toxic substance.
Their defiance of the court order eventually led to criminal charges and a raid on their home in Bradenton, Florida, where investigators found loaded guns, nearly 10,000 pounds of sodium chlorite powder, and thousands of bottles of MMS.
Jonathan and Jordan were arrested in Bradenton and Joseph fled to Colombia, where he was later extradited by Colombian authorities.
Dressed in beige prison uniforms, the Grenons chose to represent themselves at the two-day trial, which ended Wednesday.
They said nothing throughout the proceedings until the 12-member jury delivered their verdict, when Joseph told the court, “We’re going to appeal.”
Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed the Grenons as con artists who used the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing website as a front to defraud consumers and the US government.
The family members used video pitch to address customers and touted MMS as a cure for 95 percent of the world’s known illnesses, including AIDS and the coronavirus.
“This entire Miracle Mineral Solution scheme is built on deceit and dishonesty,” prosecutor John Shipley said during his closing argument.
Joseph Grenon (pictured) was arrested in Colombia, where authorities extradited him to the US
Jonathan Grenon was found guilty of two counts of violating federal court orders requiring them to stop selling the drug
Jordan was also found guilty of the conspiracy charges, meaning he could face life in prison
Mark Grenon used the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing website to whip up the dangerous substance
The Grenons “created a mock church to make it harder for the Food and Drug Administration and the government to avoid selling snake oil,” Shipley explained. “This was not a church. This was a scam for money—an old-fashioned scam.”
Shipley and fellow prosecutor Michael Homer described how
The Grenons called themselves “bishops” and sold MMS as “sacraments” to consumers in South Florida and other parts of the United States in exchange for a “donation” to the Genesis Church.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga instructed the jury that the Grenons could not use the First Amendment as a defense for selling MMS because their so-called church was not a religious entity.
In public warnings, the FDA said it had received several reports of hospitalizations and life-threatening conditions after people drank the dangerous substance.
The criminal case filed in April 2020 was Florida’s first pandemic-related enforcement action.