FL Church Leaders Get Prison Time For Selling Fake COVID Cure: DOJ

BRADENTON, FL — A Bradenton family who ran the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing were sentenced for their roles related to selling a fake COVID-19 cure during the pandemic, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Jonathan Grenon, 37, and Jordan Grenon, 29, will spend 151 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by distributing an unapproved and misbranded drug and for contempt of court.

Mark Grenon, 66, and Joseph Grenon, 36, were sentenced to 60 months in prison, the statutory maximum sentence for conspiring to defraud the United States by distributing an unapproved and misbranded drug.

All four defendants were found guilty by a federal jury following a trial this summer.

The Grenons manufactured, promoted, and sold a product they named Miracle Mineral Solution, a chemical solution containing sodium chlorite and water. When ingested orally, the solution became chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach typically used for industrial water treatment or bleaching textiles, pulp and paper, the DOJ said.

The family claimed the solution could treat, prevent and cure COVID-19, though it hadn’t been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of coronavirus.

The FDA issued warnings urging consumers not to purchase or use the product for any reason, explaining that it would be the same as drinking bleach and could cause dangerous side effects, including severe vomiting, diarrhea and life-threatening low blood pressure.

The agency received reports of people being hospitalized, developing life-threatening conditions and even dying after drinking the solution, the DOJ said.

Before marketing the product as a cure for COVID-19, the Grenons touted it as a miracle cure-all for dozens of other serious diseases and disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and leukemia, even though the FDA had not approved the solution for any use.

The Grenons sold tens of thousands of bottles of MMS nationwide, including to consumers throughout south Florida.

They sold this “dangerous product” under the guise of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, an entity they created to avoid government regulation of the solution and shield themselves from prosecution, according to the DOJ.

Genesis’ websites describe it as a “non-religious church,” and defendant Mark Grenon, the co-founder of Genesis, has repeatedly acknowledged that it “has nothing to do with religion,” and that he founded Genesis to “legalize the use of MMS” and avoid “going [ ] to jail,” the DOJ said.

The solution could be acquired only through a “donation” to Genesis, but the donation amounts for orders were set at specific dollar amounts, and were mandatory, making the donation amounts, effectively just sales prices. The Grenons received more than $1 million from selling the solution.

Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were also found guilty of criminal contempt of court because they violated court orders to stop distributing the solution.

The Grenons also threatened the federal judge presiding over the civil case, and threatened that, should the government attempt to enforce the court orders halting their distribution of the solution, their family would “pick up guns” and instigate “a Waco,” the DOJ said.

During trial in July 2023, the jury saw photos and video of a dirty rundown shed in Jonathan Grenon’s backyard in Bradenton, where the defendants were manufacturing the product. These photos showed dozens of blue chemical drums containing nearly 10,000 pounds of sodium chlorite powder, thousands of bottles of the solution, and other items used in the manufacture and distribution of it.

The sodium chlorite powder drums—the primary active ingredient in MMS—had warning labels advising the product was toxic, flammable and highly dangerous to consume.