May 18—The San Luis Obispo County cannabis business founded by Helios Dayspring, who pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a bribery scheme, is selling three of its dispensaries to a large marijuana retail company for more than $22 million.
Natural Healing Center is selling the Morro Bay and Lemoore dispensaries and a dispensary under construction in Turlock to Glass House Brands for a combination of stock and $5.7 million in cash, worth a total value of $22.6 million, according to a news release from Glass House Brands.
Dayspring pleaded guilty to bribery and filing a false income tax return in October 2021. According to the plea agreement, Dayspring admitted to paying late San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill $29,000 in unreported cash payments in person with “no one else present” and “voluntarily and intentionally” under-reported his taxable income to the IRS by over $5.3 million, resulting in more than $2 million of lost tax revenue. He also gave Hill free cannabis products and paid for meals on multiple occasions, the agreement said.
NHC’s planned San Luis Obispo property is not involved in the sale after the city revoked the permit following Dayspring’s criminal charges.
He was ordered to “make his best efforts” to pay back the taxes he didn’t report to the IRS including interest — a total of $3,438,793 — at or before his sentencing, which is set for next week.
What’s in the sale
According to the news release, the two operating dispensaries in Morro Bay and Lemoore brought in $15.3 million in revenue from April 2021 through March 2022. The Turlock location, which is expected to open between July and September, is expected to eventually bring in $10 million.
Glass House Brands expects the Turlock location to be one of Natural Healing Center’s highest-grossing locations because of its location on Highway 99 and in the same town as California State University, Stanislaus.
The three locations also already have multiple licenses to sell cannabis and do not expect the local city governments to issue more anytime soon, the release said.
The stock payouts to Dayspring will be paid over two years, assuming all shares are released after the holdback period. The deal is also contingent on the transfer of ownership being approved by local regulators, which is expected by the end of June.
Glass House Brands aims to be one of the largest cannabis retailers in the state, and the acquisition of Natural Healing Center’s dispensaries leaves it “poised to execute a dramatic transformation in the size of our retail dispensary business this summer.”
The company also recently acquired dispensaries in Santa Ynez, Isla Vista and Eureka.
When will Dayspring be sentenced?
In February, Dayspring successfully postponed his sentencing to April because he needed more time to sell his assets, including a “significant piece of real estate” that was expected to close at the end of the month, to come up with the nearly $3.5 million in restitution he owes the IRS.
It is unclear if the dispensaries were the real estate referenced in his postponement request.
Dayspring’s sentencing was pushed back again because his lawyer was in another trial, and he is now scheduled to be sentenced on May 27. He asked the judge to sentence him to three years of probation, with some house arrest, and 500 hours of community service, according to court documents.
The judge has not given any indication as to what Dayspring will serve, but the maximum sentence for his crimes is 13 years in prison.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 1:52 PM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to clarify that Natural Healing Center is selling the three dispensaries, not Helios Dayspring.
Corrected May 18, 2022
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