Florida family on trial for conspiracy: 'Con men' sold bleach cure for COVID, feds say

A church founder and his three sons are on trial at a Miami federal court this week, facing accusations that they knowingly evaded FDA regulations when they sold a bleach mixture as a medical cure.

Mark Grenon, the 65-year-old founder of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, and his sons, Jonathan David, 37, Jordan Paul, 29, and Joseph Timothy, 35, have opted to represent themselves in the trial that started Monday. Yet, they declined to provide opening arguments as reported by the Bradenton Herald.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, used names like “con men” and “snake-oil salesmen,” to describe the Grenons, who face charges related to selling more than $1 million of the toxic “Miracle Mineral Solution,” commonly referred to as MMS. The family claimed MMS could cure almost any ailment including coronavirus, Alzheimer’s and malaria, according to the criminal complaint.  

The Food and Drug Administration brought the original complaint after investigating the church and conducting a raid at the Grenons’ home in Bradenton, Florida, just South of the Tampa Bay area, in July 2020.

Jonathon and Jordan were arrested in Florida shortly after the raid. Mark and Joseph were extradited from Colombia in August 2020. They have all been detained since and could face a life sentence in prison. U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga is hearing the case.

Here is what to know about the trial, where attorneys were scheduled to deliver closing arguments Wednesday afternoon:

Conspiracy and contempt charges:

• The Grenons have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to the indictment, the Grenons admitted that Genesis, the church name they operated under, was a front to protect their practice selling MMS. The original complaint states that the Genesis website referred to itself as a “non-religious church.” Also listed is a February 2020 interview when Mark Grenon said, “Because everything you do commercially is under the Universal Commercial Code, okay? A church is completely separate from that code, statutes, and laws. That’s why a priest can give a kid wine in church publicly and not get arrested.”
• The conspiracy charge hinges on the allegation that the Grenons manufactured and distributed MMS even with the understanding that it was not approved by the FDA. The Grenons sold MMS online for mail delivery via several different websites. The evidence collected by the FDA’s undercover investigation shows that the shipments were often labeled and promoted as “sacraments.”
• They are also charged with two counts of criminal contempt for repeatedly and publicly ignoring a temporary restraining order issued by Judge Kathleen Williams in April 2020. As outlined in the criminal complaint, Mark Grenon also accused Williams of treason and breaching her oath “You think we’re afraid of some Obama-appointed judge that broke their oath?” Mark Grenon said. “You could be taken out, Ms. Williams.”

Operation Quack Hack

As reported in a 2020 USA Today investigation, the Grenons were a target of Operation Quack Hack, part of the U.S government’s efforts to stop people from peddling false cures for COVID-19.

Between the program’s launch in March 2020 and July of the following year, Operation Quack Hack sent more than 180 warning letters, more than 300 reports to online marketplaces, and nearly 300 complaints to domain registrars, according to a July 2021 FDA report.

Approximately a dozen of those that received warnings went so far as to accuse the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission of trying to shut them down in order to protect big pharmaceutical companies from competition.

The Grenons went even further, warning the FDA and prosecutors to be careful how they treat the family because former President Donald Trump could step in.

“My prayer is that Trump steps in, or Barr – I wrote them both – and says dismiss this case and put everything back the way it was,” Grenon said in a YouTube video interview fellow FDA warning letter recipient Maryam Henein.

The false promises of the Miracle Mineral Solution

The Grenons sold thousands of bottles of MMS since starting the church in 2010 and raked in more than $1 million.

They directed customers to mix a sodium chlorite and water solution with an acidic activator. The chemical result was a powerful bleaching agent typically used for industrial water treatments or stripping textiles.

Former member of the Church of Scientology Jim Humble created the potion in the late 1990s. Mark Grenon learned of MMS from Humble, and together they devised a plan to build and expand the church globally.

But MMS quickly received pushback and was even banned in six countries after reports surfaced of hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.

Still, Grenon took credit when Trump touted false promises of a “disinfectant” that could cure coronavirus. Grenon said he had sent the president a letter urging him to promote MMS just days earlier.