Brown attributed some of the blame to Dayspring’s prior lawyer, as well, for suggesting that Dayspring bribe the county supervisor, “advice” that Brown described as “not just incorrect, but frankly illegal.” One of Dayspring’s current lawyers, Sandra Brown, herself a former Central District federal prosecutor, spoke on Dayspring’s behalf at the sentencing hearing. Count One charged federal bribery and Count Two charged that Dayspring intentionally under-reported his business income on his federal tax returns.ĭayspring asserted that he was led astray by his prior lawyer (whom he wrongly thought had “expertise” with the complications and hurdles of cannabis businesses). Rybarczyk implored the court to punish Dayspring for “trying to fix the game” so no other operator could fairly compete.ĭayspring was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in October 2021 to a two-count federal complaint. And no mention of cannabis’ federal illegality. Other than referring to Dayspring as a “cannabis king” who wanted to expand his empire by cheating, there was little mention of cannabis at all. It was Rybarczyk, at Dayspring’s in-person federal court sentencing hearing, who honed in on Dayspring’s actions involving the government official. The federal prosecutor, Thomas Rybarczyk, is assigned to the Public Corruption Unit. Notably, the federal prosecutor on the case was not from the Central District’s Narcotics Division. San Luis Obispo’s budget includes federal program funds, hence the interest. Not understood by some, the feds have broad jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute cases at the local and state level-so long as there is a “federal interest.” Bribery of a state or local official is a federal crime where the locality or the state has received in excess of $10,000 for any federal program (which could be food stamps or even highway reconstruction money).
Helios dayspring free#
It was because Dayspring acted “corruptly” by using money, cannabis and free food, to influence a local public office holder. But it was not cannabis that put the authorities on the scent. Why did the feds in this vast Central District, home to 19 million inhabitants and covering 40,000 square miles, single out Dayspring? They were investigating corruption, not cannabis.Įven though cannabis production and distribution is legal in California, it remains illegally federally.
RELATED: Q: What’s a Cannabis Operator to Do to Get Ahead Without Getting Indicted?ĭayspring’s cannabis corruption machinations were discovered after federal authorities began a multi-year investigation into local government corruption up the California coast.Ĭalifornia’s “Central District” federal prosecutors oversee the most-populated federal district in the nation covering some 40,000 square miles and 19 million inhabitants.
California’s coastal “King of Cannabis,” Helios Dayspring, owner of a San Luis Obispo cannabis cultivation site, supplier to many licensed California dispensaries, and founder of Central California’s Natural Healing Center dispensary, was sentenced to a 22-month prison sentence, in a downtown Los Angeles federal courtroom May 27.ĭayspring was also ordered to pay almost $3.5 million in back taxes to the IRS from years of unreported cannabis business income.ĭayspring, over a three-year period starting in 2016, bribed a San Luis Obispo county supervisor with money, free cannabis, and fancy meals, so that the local government official would vote in favor of policies which favored Dayspring’s San Luis Obispo cannabis farm and his Grover Beach, California retail outlet.
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