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 SAN LUIS OBISPO 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. Once Dayspring officially pleads guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in federal custody.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. It is unclear what will happen to his businesses now that Dayspring has been charged.
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Agents also searched a Pismo Beach home and an undisclosed third location on the same day.ĭayspring has also been embroiled in a series of lawsuits from former business partners, including a lawsuit by investor William Szymczak, who claims Dayspring allegedly diverted millions in company funds to himself and used some to try to stave off IRS and FBI investigations. In March 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served a search and seizure warrant at San Luis Obispo County Government Center as part of an ongoing public corruption inquiry in San Luis Obispo County.
Dayspring then stepped down as Natural Healing Center CEO, “to devote his energy and attention to other personal avenues of opportunity.” Shoals never responded to the offer.ĭayspring also admitted to bribing a total of $32,000 to San Louis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill for votes favoring legislation that permitted Dayspring’s cannabis farms to operate prior to final approval. Dayspring admitted that he and a business associate offered a $100,000 bribe in exchange for two dispensary licenses to former Grover Beach Mayor John Shoals in September 2017.
Helios Raphael Dayspring, founder and former CEO of the Natural Healing Center, has agreed to plead guilty to several felony charges, pay $3.4 million in restitution to the IRS, and cooperate with an ongoing investigation.ĭayspring admitted to underreporting more than $3.4 million on his personal income on his federal tax returns for four years.
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