Florida ‘church of healing’ leader, 65, and his three sons are sentenced to up to 12-year’s prison for selling bleach as a ‘miracle cure’ for COVID, HIV and autism

A father and his three sons have been sentenced by a federal court in Miami to 12 years in prison for making $1 million by selling toxic bleach as a ‘miracle cure’ for coronavirus through a fake church.

Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons Jonathan, 37, Joseph, 35, and Jordan, 29, were convicted of conspiring to defraud the US government and FDA by distributing an unapproved, misbranded drug .

Jonathan and Jordon received 12 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of violating federal court orders requiring them to stop selling the drug, while Mark and Joseph Grenon both received five-year terms.

The family, all of Bradenton, Florida, 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—a powerful bleaching agent typically used for industrial water is used. treatment or bleaching of textiles, pulp and paper.

The Grenons claimed that taking MMS could treat, prevent and cure COVID-19.

The product was sold after the four set up a fake church website in Florida in 2010 that defrauded thousands of people across the US. The sales continued through the COVID pandemic.

The Federal Drug Administration has never approved MMS for the treatment of COVID-19, or for any other use and has strongly urged consumers not to purchase or use MMS for any reason.

It explained how consuming MMS is the same as drinking bleach and can cause dangerous side effects, including severe vomiting, diarrhea and life-threatening low blood pressure.

In April 2020, the federal government cracked down on the business after the Grenons defied FDA orders to stop distribution of the toxic substance.

Their defiance of the court order eventually led to criminal charges and a raid on their home in Bradenton, south of Tampa Bay, 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.

The Grenons chose to represent themselves at their July hearing and did not say anything during the proceedings until the 12-person jury delivered their verdict, when Joseph told the court: ‘We will appeal.’

Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed the Grenons as fraudsters using the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing website as a front to defraud consumers and the U.S. government.

The Grenons sold tens of thousands of bottles of MMS nationwide, including to consumers throughout South Florida.

During July’s trial, the jury saw photos and video of a dirty dilapidated shed in Jonathan Grenon’s backyard where they were manufacturing their MMS.

These photos showed dozens of blue chemical drums containing nearly 10,000 pounds of sodium chlorite powder, thousands of bottles of MMS and other items used in the production and distribution of MMS.

The blue chemical drums of sodium chlorite powder even had warning labels stating that the product was toxic, flammable and highly dangerous to consume.

The family members used video billboards to appeal to customers, touting MMS as a cure for 95 percent of the world’s known diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and leukemia, even though the FDA did not MMS not approved for any use. whatever.

“This entire Miracle Mineral Solution scheme is built on deception and dishonesty,” prosecutor John Shipley said during closing arguments at the trial.

The Grenons sold the product under the guise of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, an entity they created to avoid government regulation of MMS and protect themselves from prosecution.

The false church “made it harder for the Food and Drug Administration and the government to stop the family from selling snake oil,” Shipley explained.

‘It was no church. It was a scam for money — an old-fashioned scam.’

Shipley and co-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.

The Genesis website stated how MMS could only be obtained through a ‘donation’ to Genesis, but the donation amounts for MMS orders were set at specific dollar amounts, and were mandatory, essentially making the donation amounts sales prices.

Genesis’ own websites describe Genesis as a ‘non-religious church’, and Mark Grenon, has admitted that Genesis has ‘nothing to do with religion’ and that he founded Genesis to ‘legalize the use of MMS’ and avoid ‘going to jail’. .’

The Grenons manufactured the solution in a backyard shed and were already selling the drug as a treatment for the other disorders before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mark Grenon was even the subject of an ABC 20/20 expose in 2016, but he continued to peddle the product for another four years.

In court, it was revealed how the family earned an average of $32,000 a month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit America.

However, orders soared as the coronavirus began to spread and their earnings reached $132,000 per month.

The Grenons’ actions may have caused several deaths over the years, with the Federal Drug Administration saying it has received numerous reports of people requiring hospitalization, developing life-threatening conditions and even dying after drinking MMS.

The criminal case filed in April 2020 was the first pandemic-related enforcement action in Florida.

As the case went through the legal system, the Grenons threatened the federal judge presiding over the case, threatening that if the government sought to enforce the court orders to stop their distribution of MMS, the Grenons would ‘pick up guns’ and inciting “a Waco.”