Four members of a Florida family were convicted for selling toxic industrial bleach as a miraculous cure for COVID-19 and other physical and mental diseases through their online church in a conspiracy starting in 2010.
A federal jury in Miami, Florida found Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States and deliver misbranded drugs on Thursday. The charges for conspiring to defraud the U.S. and delivering misbranded drugs carries up to five years in prison.
"This whole Miracle Mineral Solution scheme was built on deception and dishonesty," prosecutor John Shipley said during his closing argument.
The FDA warned about products like Miracle Mineral Solution "are not meant to be swallowed by people." (Food and Drug Administration)
The Grenons, who dubbed their concoction the Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), claimed that the toxic industrial bleach was a cure for COVID-19, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, autism, malaria, hepatitis, Parkinson’s, herpes, HIV/AIDS, and other serious medical conditions, the United States' Attorney Office Southern District of Florida said in a press release.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said that the Grenons MMS contained sodium chlorite and water which, when ingested orally, becomes chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach used for industrial water treatment or bleaching textiles, pulp, and paper.
FLORIDA FAMILY ACCUSED OF SELLING BLEACH AS ‘MIRACLE’ COVID-19 CURE, MAKING $1M IN SALES
According to authorities, the Florida family sold their dangerous product under the guise of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing. The indictment alleges that the Grenons received more than $1 million from selling their product.
Leaders held titles of "bishop" or "archbishop," but Mark Grenon repeatedly acknowledged that the church had "nothing to do with religion" and was mainly to avoid going to jail, authorities say.
In this photo provided by the Colombian prosecutor's office, a police officer and a soldier flank Mark Grenon (second from left) and his son Joseph Grenon, during a search in Santa Marta, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 (Colombian Attorney General's Office via AP)
In July 2020, a Miami federal judge ordered the church to stop selling the substance, after they had received reports of people requiring hospitalizations after buying the toxic substance. The Grenons continued selling MMS, despite being ordered to stop.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also warned consumers to "not to drink sodium chlorite products such as Miracle Mineral Solution." The FDA said that drinking the solution will "make you sick" and could cause dangerous side effects, including severe vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening low blood pressure.
The indictment further alleges that before marketing MMS as a cure for COVID-19, the Grenons said that the solution was a miraculous cure-all for dozens of other serious diseases and disorders, even though the FDA had not approved it.
Bottles of bleach on sale in a supermarket. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were arrested in Bradenton, Florida. While Mark and Joseph Grenon fled to Colombia, where they were arrested and extradited back to the U.S.
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Their sentencing is scheduled for October 6.
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