Four members of the Bradenton family found guilty of selling bleach as a cure for COVID-19 through an online church
Mark Grenon, 65, and his three sons face up to five years in prison. They will be sentenced on October 6th.
BRADENTON, Florida. Four members of the Bradenton family behind a “church” that sold toxic industrial bleach as a miracle cure for COVID-19 were found guilty on federal charges Wednesday in Miami.
A federal jury found Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, Jonathan, 37, Joseph, 35, and Jordan, 29, guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States and delivering drugs under the wrong name, according to court records. This charge carries up to five years in prison. Their sentencing is set for October 6.
According to the Miami Herald, the Grenons represented themselves but refused to speak during the two-day trial. After the jurors delivered their verdict, Joseph Grenon said they would appeal.
Prosecutors called the Grenons “swindlers” and “snake oil dealers” and said the Genesis II Family Church of Health and Healing sold their so-called “Miraculous Mineral Solution” worth $1 million. The Grenons claimed the solution was a cure for COVID-19, cancer, Alzheimer’s, autism, malaria and many other diseases.
What the Grenons were selling was actually chlorine dioxide, officials said. When ingested, the solution turns into bleach, which is commonly used to treat textiles, process water, pulp and paper, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Authorities said it was the same as drinking bleach and could be fatal.
A Miami federal judge ordered the church to stop selling the substance in 2020 as false information about the spread and treatment of COVID-19 was rampant online, but the order was ignored.
A few months later, Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were arrested in Bradenton. Mark and Joseph Grenon fled to Colombia, where they were arrested and extradited back to the United States.
In addition to the fraud charges, Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were also found guilty of violating federal court orders requiring them to stop selling Miracle Mineral Solution in 2020. US authorities have agreed to drop the same contempt charges against Mark and Joseph Grenon as a condition of their extradition from Colombia.
The accusatory documents describe Genesis as a non-religious church that was likely created for the Grenons to avoid government regulation.
10 Andrea Chu of Tampa Bay contributed to this report.
