How did Helios Dayspring bribe Adam Hill? Cash, weed and a birthday dinner, prosecutors say
Over the course of three years starting in 2016, late San Luis Obispo County supervisor Adam Hill accepted a string of bribes totaling $32,000 from cannabis dispensary founder Helios Dayspring, federal prosecutors said Wednesday, as Dayspring worked to clear a path for his businesses in SLO County.
Dayspring also admitted that he and a business associate attempted to bribe former Grover Beach Mayor John Shoals, but Shoals never responded to the offer, and Dayspring didn’t pay the bribe, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Prosecutors charged Dayspring, 35, of San Luis Obispo with one count of bribery and one count of subscribing to a false 2018 income tax return, when he allegedly deliberately failed to report millions of dollars to the IRS, the release said.
A plea agreement filed by prosecutors will allow Dayspring to plead guilty to the charges, pay $3.4 million in restitution to the IRS and cooperate in the ongoing investigation.
He will face a maximum sentence of 13 years in federal prison.
Hill died by suicide at age 54 in August 2020 and was never charged in the case.
Here’s a look at how federal prosecutors say the bribes unfolded:
Dayspring bribed supervisor with money, cannabis products, meals
According to the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Dayspring operated and had a controlling interest in multiple cannabis farms and dispensaries that required approval from SLO County and the city of Grover Beach.
The court filing says that beginning in fall of 2016 and continuing until about November 2019, Dayspring paid a sitting county supervisor — it does not mention Hill by name — approximately $29,000 in unreported cash payments. During the same period, Dayspring also gave Hill cannabis products free-of-charge and paid for multiple meals for Hill, according to the filing.
Dayspring did so, the U.S. DOJ alleges, for favorable votes on cannabis legislation, advocacy to other public officials and the disclosure of non-public county information regarding cannabis-related issues for the benefit of Dayspring’s businesses.
Two of the matters cited by federal prosecutors from which Dayspring benefitted was the September 2016 moratorium on cultivation of cannabis in the county’s 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 Dayspring’s farms. Hill voted for both.
The U.S. DOJ says that Dayspring began paying Hill cash, first starting at $1,000, and also gave Hill three $1,000 money orders. Those were deposited in Hill’s personal bank account, the agency says.
Hill then solicited more bribes; he was given $3,000 in 2016 and $5,000 in 2017, the filing says. He took another $5,000 in cash as well as cannabis products in early 2018.
In December 2018, Dayspring and Hill discussed “the importance of having (Hill) and other county supervisors approve the continued abeyance on enforcement action and how a lapse in the abeyance would affect his cannabis farms.”
“Specifically, defendant told (Hill) in a text message that ‘it’s really important u guys extend the timeframe for submission and don’t allow other people in yet” referring to the county’s impending vote on Dec. 11, 2018, to extend the abeyances on enforcement action against cannabis cultivators,” the filing reads.
Hill responded: “Got it. We’ll see what we can do. 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 ... “
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.
In January 2020, Hill was the deciding vote when the board again extended the abeyance 3-2.
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 Dayspring’s businesses.
At one point, Hill texted Dayspring that he “had to keep these f---s (other county supervisors) from going way beyond and it is exhausting! Where’s the industry (financial) support for my re-election??”
Dayspring responded: “were (sic) all (you) need lol.”
Hill also requested Dayspring take him out to dinner for his birthday, which Dayspring paid for, and was then given another $5,000 in cash.
The filing adds that Dayspring and Hill held a political fundraiser at Hill’s home where $13,000 was raised in June 2019.
Attempt to bribe Grover Beach mayor
Dayspring’s illicit activities spread to city government as well, federal prosecutors say.
In 2017, Grover Beach began accepting applications for cannabis dispensary permits. Dayspring sought two permits.
In September 2017, Dayspring, an unnamed business associate, and Shoals — referred to only as Mayor 1 — met at a restaurant in Arroyo Grande.
“On their way to the meeting, business partner 1 told (Dayspring) that (Shoals) had been pushing business partner 1 for a bribe in exchange for their cannabis permits,” the filing reads. “Business partner 1 told defendant that this meeting was their chance to bribe (Shoals).”
During the meal, the filing says, Dayspring showed Shoals his cell phone with the number “100,000” typed out, and said “it was for two.”
“Defendant wanted to convey to (Shoals) that (Dayspring) and business partner 1 were prepared to pay $100,000 to (Shoals) if (Shoals) used (his) official position to secure two cannabis dispensary permits” for Dayspring and his associate, the filing says.
Shoals did not respond to that offer at the dinner, prosecutors said.
The city later awarded Dayspring a single permit. After that, Dayspring allegedly asked his business associate whether they owed Shoals $50,000, prosecutors allege, and the business partner said “their proposed deal required that defendant and business partner 1 receive two permits.”
Thom Mrozek, U.S. Department of Justice spokesman, declined to say whether Shoals cooperated with federal investigators, or whether he ever reported the attempted bribe.
Dayspring founded 2 SLO County dispensaries, 1 more on way
Dayspring, who is a graduate of Morro Bay High School, operated a number of cannabis operations in San Luis Obispo County and elsewhere in California under the name Natural Healing Center.
The first of his dispensaries opened in Grover Beach in 2018, followed by another in Lemoore in 2020, and a third in Morro Bay in April.
He was slated to open a San Luis Obispo location — as well as a Turlock location — sometime this year, but permit issues delayed the local project.
It is unclear what will happen to the businesses now that Dayspring has been charged.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 9:10 AM with the headline "How did Helios Dayspring bribe Adam Hill? Cash, weed and a birthday dinner, prosecutors say."
