Florida family found guilty of selling fake COVID-19 cure through online church
MIAMI (KABC) -- A Florida man and his three sons were convicted on federal fraud charges Wednesday for marketing a poisonous bleach concoction as a cure for 95% of the world's diseases, including COVID-19.
Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, were all charged with conspiring to defraud the U.S. and deliver misbranded drugs.
The Grenons represented themselves but declined to make opening statements as the trial began Monday.
All four men, who appeared in court rocking a much different look, including long beards and waist-length hair, mostly sat in silence and said nothing during the trial. The jury deliberated for about 5 minutes before revealing the final verdict.
Eyewitness News has been investigating the Grenon family since 2016, starting with an undercover report at a seminar in Costa Mesa on the so-called "cure" branded as "Miracle Mineral Solution," also known as MMS.
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In federal court this week, prosecutors called the Grenons "con men" and "snake-oil salesmen" who used their fake church to sell MMS as a "religious sacrament." In videos, it was pitched as a purported cure for 95% of known diseases, including COVID-19, Alzheimer's, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis, prosecutors said.
A photo shown to jurors this week showed rodent droppings on the floor of the shed where the Grenons produced the so-called cure.
Members of the jury stifled laughter at times but visibly recoiled when they passed around and smelled bottles of MMS that had been shipped to the undercover federal agent.
What the Grenons were selling was actually chlorine dioxide, officials said.
When ingested, the solution becomes a bleach that is typically used for such things as treating textiles, industrial water, pulp and paper, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Authorities said it is the same as drinking bleach and can be fatal.
A Miami federal judge ordered the church to stop selling the substance in 2020, but that was ignored.
Jonathan and Jordan Grenon were arrested in Bradenton, just south of the Tampa Bay area.
Federal agents reportedly seized thousands of bottles of MMS and stacks of cash.
Mark and Joseph Grenon fled to Colombia, where they were arrested and extradited back to the U.S.
The family will be sentenced on Friday, Oct. 6.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
