Resist the temptation to engage in such conduct. Helios Bobby Dayspring, 35, who owns marijuana farms and dispensaries up and down the Central Coast, will plead guilty to one count each of federal programs bribery and filing a false tax return, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court and unsealed this week. After that exchange, two days later, the county supervisor texted Dayspring that the official had been successful. The first of his dispensaries opened in Grover Beach in 2018, followed by another in Lemoore in 2020, anda third in Morro Bayin April. Helios Dayspring, a cannabis entrepreneur, was sentenced Friday to 22 months in prison for bribing a public official and filing a false tax return. The Tribune has reached out to Shoals for comment on Daysprings charges. The cannabis lawyers are typically not of the same caliber as Big Law regulatory and transactional lawyers or as those formerly part of Big Law who start or join specialty practices (such as tax and land use). San Luis Obispo County marijuana mogul Helios Dayspring was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison on Friday afternoon by U.S. District Court Judge Andr Birotte in Los Angeles. He will face a maximum sentence of 13 years in federal prison. The federal agents got records from a Pismo Beach restaurant where the birthday meal for the supervisor was held. Keep up with Noozhawk's daily news coverage, delivered at 4:15 a.m. right to your inbox. Dayspring has been charged with bribing late supervisor Adam Hill and faces up to 13 years in prison. When the mayor returned to the table, Dayspring had typed 100,000 in the calculator app on his phone and showed it to the mayor, which he said was for two. In his plea agreement, Dayspring said he meant to convey that he was prepared to pay $100,000 for the mayors help in securing two dispensary permits. A smart federal prosecutor will bring in an IRS special agent to join a public corruption investigation and investigate the tax angle. Suite 1200 Two of the matters cited by federal prosecutors from which Dayspring benefitted was the September 2016 moratorium on cultivation of cannabis in the countys unincorporated areas, which included an exemption from enforcement for existing farms registered with the county, as well as a November 2017 extension on an abeyance of enforcement action on Daysprings farms. Helios Raphael Dayspring, the founder of the Natural Healing Center, which has shops in Grover Beach and Morro Bay, has agreed to plead guilty to the felony charges, pay $3.4 million in . County, Dayspring was well-known in northern Santa Barbara County, where he operated several industrial-scale cannabis operations off the steep and winding road that wends through the bucolic paradise of Tepusquet Canyon. Marijuana mogul Helios Dayspring pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and one count of filing a false tax return on Friday in U.S. District Court for the . Lock Dayspring said it was for two, meaning two dispensary permits. Psychologically seared by his early abandonment, Dayspring wrote, he learned at an early age not to trust anyone whose loyalty couldnt be bought and paid for. . Dayspring admitted that he had also tried to bribe the mayor of Grover Beach, a small city south of San Luis Obispo, where he was trying to open two marijuana dispensaries. It passed, 3 to 2, with Hill voting in favor, according to the agreement. Prosecutors often call tax charges, the easy low-hanging fruit because once a targets expenditures are compared with the income reported, if the disparity is extreme the feds are likely have an easy-to-prove tax prosecution. Extension of timeframe seems reasonable and probably no one else in until everyone has been deemed complete., Dayspring responded that Hill was the man., On Dec. 12, 2018, Hill told Dayspring by text that the board approved the extension, to which Dayspring replied, Thank God . This has been a passion of mine for a long time.. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. In November 2017, the Board of Supervisors was weighing whether to offer certain growers an exemption, or abeyance, to a moratorium on cultivating marijuana on unincorporated county land. Dayspring 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. From my view, as a former federal prosecutor, and someone who teaches cannabis law in both business and law schools, Daysprings biggest mistake (besides the criminality) was not doing enough investigation to find the right lawyers initially (at the start of his business) to guide him. The former owner of a California cannabis retailer has been charged in federal court with bribery and failing to report millions of dollars in income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), KSBY reports. The attempted $100,000 bribe took place during a dinner meeting in September 2017. Helios Raphael Dayspring, a.k.a. Cannabis operators, who alreadyat day oneare conducting a business that is federally illegal, cannot afford to engage in conduct that is additionally criminal. It adds insult to injury to add political corruption and failure to pay back taxes to the mix. Why did the feds in this vast Central District, home to 19 million inhabitants and covering 40,000 square miles, single out Dayspring? LOS ANGELES A San Luis Obispo man was sentenced today to 22 months in federal prison for paying a county supervisor approximately $32,000 in bribes most of them in cash in exchange for the supervisors votes and influence on other votes affecting his cannabis business interests. Whoops! Tony Biasotti Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Two years after Helios Dayspring was caught breaking county zoning and state water quality laws he was illegally expanding a cannabis operation on private land in Los Padres National Forest and polluting the creeks county officials are taking steps that could lead to the shutdown of his last remaining "grow . Helios Raphael Dayspring, a.k.a. Hill pushed his fellow supervisors to support an extension and moved to add it to the next meetings agenda; the motion failed. Grover Beach officials ultimately awarded Dayspring one dispensary permit, according to the agreement. Shoals was one of two city council members on a subcommittee that oversaw cannabis dispensary permits. According to the Department of Justice, Dayspring, who has shops in Grover Beach and Morro Bay, has been . Once the IRS is aboard a federal criminal investigation, it becomes easier for the prosecutor to get copies of the targets federal tax returns without a court order. Subscribe Official websites use .gov Residents there had been complaining of Daysprings aggressive scofflaw methods large trucks driving back and forth, night lights and night generators blaring forth, illegal grading, creek degradation, and cultivating in excess of permits since 2015. And in small towns and counties, access can increase temptation. (David Middlecamp / San Luis Obispo Tribune photo). That happened here with Dayspring. Dayspring, 35, owns cannabis farms in San Luis Obispo County as well as the Natural Healing Center dispensaries in San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay and Grover Beach. In early 2019, Hill accepted another $5,000 in cash outside an Avila Beach restaurant, the filing says; the supervisor took another $5,000 in cash following a dinner in Pismo Beach that November. Quinn Brady now works for the Dayspring front organization MOM INC a Delaware Corp in which shareholder information has been kept secret. Calcoast news did great coverage of the shady dealings of Mr Petetit-Wright. About a year before Helios Dayspring would plead guilty to felony charges of bribery and tax evasion, an attorney for the cannabis businessman sent an email to San Luis Obispo city officials. He also had ownership interests in businesses that sold marijuana to the public, including in Grover Beach. As of 2019, Dayspring also owned 18 properties in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties where he either grows marijuana or was planning to cultivate it,he told The Tribune at the time. When asked if Hill would have faced charges were he still alive, U.S. DOJ spokesman Thom Mrozek said, I cannot answer that question.. Do you represent people in family law matters to include divorce and child custody. Gov. A few months later, he tried again and succeeded just three days after being sued for sexual misconduct by his administrative assistant. Caught dead-to-rights, Dayspring entered a plea deal where even though he agreed that he under-reported $6.5 million of cannabis business proceeds for a single year (2018), he had to accept criminal responsibility and promise to pay four years of back taxes totaling just under $3.5 million. Harmon literally got into bed with the criminals and was influenced by the pillow talk. Other supervisors said the announcement of Daysprings charges marked an end to the investigation that has hung over the boards head. San Luis Obispos budget includes federal program funds, hence the interest. (David Middlecamp / San Luis Obispo Tribune photo), Helios Dayspring opened his first SLO County Natural Healing Center cannabis dispensary in Grover Beach in 2019. Not all lawyers have the skill set to do so. Noozhawk is a founding member of theLocal Independent Online News (LION) Publishers. Daysprings cannabis corruption machinations were discovered after federal authorities began a multi-year investigation into local government corruption up the California coast. The Mayor at the time Heidi Harmon seemingly unwittingly helped structure the selection process and criteria to favor Dayspring and his co-conspirators. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. Hill responded: Got it. Later that month, he gave hill $3,000 in cash, the first payment in what would amount to $29,000 in cash over the next three years. (also known as Big Law) or have you worked at Big Law and are now in a specialty or boutique firm that advises big business on such things as tax, land use, employment, mergers and acquisitions (M&A)? The mayor, however, didnt respond to Daysprings offer and no bribe was paid, the plea agreement says. An official website of the United States government. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Ciaran McEvoy (Joe Johnston / San Luis Obispo Tribune photo), Former Grover Beach Mayor John Shoals was allegedly offered $100,000 in bribes by Helios Dayspring at a dinner in 2017. Success! . Bobby Dayspring, 35, was charged in federal court with one count of bribery and one count of subscribing to a false 2018 income tax return that deliberately failed to report millions of dollars in income to the IRS. You might also like our free A.M. Report. Well see what we can do. In addition to bribing the San Luis Obispo County supervisor, Dayspring attempted to bribe the then-mayor of Grover Beach in exchange for two dispensary licenses in that city. He had previously attempted suicide in March 2020, on the same day the FBI searched his home and his office in the county government building. Are you working at a law firm with 50 or more lawyers with offices in other states? Daysprings tax practices should serve as a lesson to those in the cannabis business. At another Board of Supervisors meeting in March 2019, Hill texted Dayspring during a series of straw votes regarding the proposed banning of all outdoor cultivation, which would have severely impacted Daysprings businesses. For the latest news in Santa Barbara County delivered right to your inbox. The quid pro quo was clear, according to Daysprings plea agreement. Before the meeting, Daysprings business partner said the mayor had been pushing for a bribe in exchange for granting their application for two dispensary permits. It was because Dayspring acted corruptly by using money, cannabis and free food, to influence a local public office holder. The supervisor had previously said he attempted suicide after federal agents served a search warrant at his government office in March 2020. Here, he stands next to drying hemp plants to be used for biomass and CBD oil, in a 2019 photo. 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