MIAMI (AP) — Four members of a Florida family circle were convicted Wednesday of promoting a poisonous commercial bleaching agent as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church.
A federal jury in Miami found Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, Jonathan, 37, Joseph, 35, and Jordan, 29, guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and deliver mislabeled drugs, according to court records. The fee carries a five-year sentence. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 6.
The Grenons refused to speak at the two-day trial. After the jury returned its verdict, Joseph Grenon said he would appeal.
Prosecutors called the Grenons “criminals” and “snake oil salesmen” and said the Bradenton family’s Genesis II Church for Health and Healing sold their so-called Miracle Mineral Solution for $1 million. In videos, it has been touted as a cure for 95 percent of known diseases, in addition to COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS and sclerosis, prosecutors said.
What the Grenons were promoting was chlorine dioxide, officials said. When ingested, the solution becomes a bleaching agent that is typically used for things like textile processing, commercial water, pulp and paper, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Authorities said it was the same as drinking bleach and it could be deadly.
A federal ruling in Miami ordered the church to stop selling the content in 2020, but that was ignored.
Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were arrested in Bradenton, south of the Tampa Bay area. Mark and Joseph Grenon fled to Colombia, where they were arrested and extradited to the United States.
In addition to the fraud convictions, Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were also found guilty of violating federal court orders requiring them to avoid promoting Miracle Mineral Solution in 2020. USA. U. S. The government agreed to drop the same contempt charges that opposed Mark and Joseph Grenon as a condition of their extradition from Colombia.