The Binge Cases: U R NEXT - Deadly Cure | 7. Doing Time

Episode Date: March 8, 2023

From prison in Colombia, to a detention facility in Texas to federal detention in Florida, the Grenons continue to fight for their freedom, and promote their product. Meanwhile, Mark Grenon remains defiant. MMS, he insists, will never stop. Want the full story? Unlock all episodes of Smoke Screen, ad-free, right now by subscribing to The Binge. Plus, get binge access to brand new stories dropping on the first of every month — that’s all episodes, all at once, all ad-free. Just click ‘Subscribe’ on the top of the Smoke Screen show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you listen. A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg, & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shortly after the raid, Colombian authorities transported Mark and Joseph to La Picotta Prison in Bogota. La Picotta is a complex of beige, several-story buildings on the southern end of the city. It's a prison that made news recently, after the Attorney General opened an investigation to the facility, following rumors of days-long parties of gambling and champagne. It wouldn't be a difficult place, it seems to obtain a cell phone, which Mark apparently was able to do. Mark has, after all, found many ways in his life to dodge the authorities. But this time, Mark didn't sound like he was having a party. Mark was now painting himself as a political prisoner. And over the next two-plus years, these warbly transmissions from Mark's jail cells would continue to reach his followers

with a new and conveniently altered message. The MMS movement is under attack, and the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing had its martyr. How long would the average American last? Its martyr, unsurprisingly, was Mark. He'd supposedly been granted life, liberty, and property. The government had stripped him of each inalienable right, except for his life.

Where is the U.S. And the government, one he calls a corporation, was unlawfully coming after him, at least from his perspective. And my son Joseph and I. And adding insult to injury, they wouldn't even give him his day in court. 91 days. And during these years that he and his son spent in jail awaiting trial, Mark seemed to avoid one real and pressing reality at every turn. He could be going to prison for a long, long time. Still, he appeared incapable of giving up.

He tried every trick in the book to keep his church and his empire from collapsing. From Neon Hum Media, Sony Music Entertainment, and Bloomberg, I'm Kristen V. Brown, and this is Smokescreen, Deadly Cure, a podcast about how a family on the fringe convinced tens of thousands of people. across the globe to buy a miracle liquid made of poison. The international conspiracy had ignited and the people who fought to take them down. Episode 7. Doing time. About four months after Mark and Jonathan were arrested in Santa Marta

and brought to La Pocota prison in Bogota, Mark sent a message to his followers and fans. I want to say, Happy New Year of 2021. What a year 2020 was, we look forward to things changing for us and bring us all home to be with our families. On the 8th of January, Bishop Jordan and Jordan, and Judith Jordan and Jonathan have been six months now in Florida jails without bail with no victims. All this happened because we told the FDA in the Department of Justice

that we have the right to practice our church, Genesis 2 church, sacraments, to help the body heal itself. As the family marched toward a bleak milestone, Mark's son's six-month anniversary in jail, Mark shared a different message across the transom. He painted himself as a victim of the federal government's pursuit of him and his church. But privately, Mark was not acting like someone in fear of a looming prosecution. The day after he sent this message out, Mark would receive a phone call. Can you hear me, Mark?

Hello? You know, much better. Hi, Mark. How are you? It's from someone we've met. Someone who is not very good at doing accents. Oh, no, I know. It's awful, mate. It's awful.

I need your help. My boy's got COVID, and he's not well. He's got a high fever. She says she's a concerned mother. She's got a boy with COVID. What should I do? She pleads with him. You could give him two or three drops every couple hours.

The mother asked Mark for a link to where she can purchase the MMS. He says he'll get it for her and put it in the chat. All right. Brilliant. God bless you, Mark. Mark, I really appreciate your help. God bless you, Mark. It's shocking. He's still pushing MMS.

From behind bars. Mark Grennan, awaiting extradition, his children in jail, tells this scared, albeit strange voice mother, the appropriate dose. Then, the mother on the other line does something odd. She offers him words of encouragement. Maybe she could tell he was becoming increasingly despondent. You'll get out, mate. You'll be out soon, mate. Don't worry. We're going to get you out, mate.

You'll know about it. Just keep praying, much. We are. Thanks, Mark. Oh, send the link in the box, will you? Message me, yeah? Yeah, I'm trying to find it. As soon as I get it, I'll send it. Thanks, mate.

Thanks so much. Good bless, Mark. Good bless. Take care. Bye. Mark doesn't seem to notice the oddness of his interaction with the person on the other line. It sounds staged almost.

And that's because it was staged. The mother on the other end of the line? That's Fiona, dialing Mark in prison. She had called Mark undercover. And Mark consulted this panicked mother with a child she claimed was sick with COVID, high fever, in distress. Don't go to the hospital or see a doctor.

Give the child MMS. Two, three drops an hour. Mark was a calm, clinical MMS physician from behind bars. But on the line, behind the mic, Mark plays up his political prisoner status. Myself and Bishop Joseph have been held five months in a Colombian prison. From the 17th, 2020. The family's patriarch continued to mark time with his jailhouse dispatches. We've now been in jail in Colombia for 100 days.

Today, depending on 100 days. And Jonathan and Jordan in Miami have been 135 days. Joe and I have been moved to new cell block, which has no windows in many areas, so it's cold. But we and the others with us in this cell block, we hung blankets up in ourselves and used plastic to block out the wind and put on extra clothing.

And Bogota is like over 9,000 feet, so it's in its wintertime, so it's getting colder every day. I guess December is the coldest. And it's almost in December. As long as Mark Grennan had operated as the Genesis 2 church, he'd pushed a cause, spiritual and physical wellness, freedom, health. But as time ticked away in jail, Mark's cause shifted, from health to himself.

Mark Brennan was the cause. Of course, the Grenin's had always asked for money, for seminars, for the MMS, in the form of quote-unquote donations. But this was the first time their fundraising attempts became brazen. And Mark Grennan was smack dab in the center of his very own fundraising campaign. Please pray for us this week. We have some documents coming out. It's now been six months for Joe and I, seven months for Jonathan and Jordan.

The contraband cell phone would come in handy. It's how Mark was able to continue to fundraise. Of course, other than you. people did it on his behalf, too. Hello, everyone. Like Bishop Max Ard, who filmed himself in front of a beachside Zoom background. His Zoom with a view. I am in my Zoom room currently.

It is, today is Friday, August the 14th. And it's 835 right now in Central Standard Time here in South Alabama. I am manning the Zoom room. And so if we do have an emergency with the Grinens, if you have wanted to help, well, this is the way you can do it, is to help out and tell the truth about what's happened to you and how good chlorine dioxide is. We wanted to speak to Bishop Ard, but he's passed away.

Anyway, there were lots of these fundraisers, telethons. It's like late-night programming, but for a world relegated to the screen. It's hard to tell how exactly Mark spent his days awaiting trial. But by the looks of it, a lot of the time was spent on something of a press junket. What is the situation like where you're at, like the prison that you're living in? What are your circumstances like? Okay, well, first of all, it's not what people think, especially where we're at, because we're in a group of an area where people are being extradited to other countries.

They said, no bail because we'd escape risk. We were on radio every week. We never hide from anybody. He's got a point. Some podcast hosts asked Mark if he needed legal advice. But he didn't really, he said. Mark was confident. God was on his side.

Justice would come. Prayers were helpful, but so was cash. If you've been praying, ask the Lord to help us financially, and he's told you to do it, whatever it is. Please send half to this link. PayPal.combe forward slash David Lester Straight. We'll put the link in the newsletter. And the other half to our Colombian, well, really, to my email, you'd have to write me because we're having a problem with PayPal right now.

and at Bishop Mark at Protonmail.com and they could do a Western Union, a Zoom or something like that. As time we're on, the lines between donations to the church for MMS and fundraising for Mark blurred. But also, by the sound of it, Mark wasn't really looking for legal advice. He wanted to make a sale. Get the books. Get all three books. You have to write an email, which I'll include,

to the place with printing. for international shipping, but they can get all three books and I tell you, it will help them take care of their own health tremendously. Practice self-care, not health care. Mark petitioned his listeners,

his followers, to support the church, to keep it alive. But is that really all he was doing? Hello, is that Barbara? We weren't the only ones who wanted to know. Hi, Barbara. Yeah, I'm just ringing there, I got your number in a group on Telegram

in relation to Mark Grenon. Yeah. There was a message or something asking about sending money orders to help you with rent and food. If that voice sounds familiar to you, it's because it is. Oh, it's just, I'm in the group for a while, so it's just a message that came up today.

I have autistic children myself, and I know of Mark Fulner. for a while. It's not a concerned citizen on telegram. It's Fiona O'Leary, again. This time, she's talking to Mark's ex-wife, Barbara Grennan. Jonathan and Jordan, yeah? Yeah.

Okay, yeah. How are they getting on? How are they coping? When I hear this call, I'm thinking about Fiona's commitment. She's been chasing the sellers of MMS for almost a decade. She won't give up. A long time to be in jail. A few times a day,

sounds like the Grennan boys were pretty freaked out, or perhaps still running an operation from prison. What do you need money for the most? Is it for rent and for food as well, Barbara? Mainly, mainly for... Have people been giving you help? Like, have you getting that support, or have they been good? We did, yes.

Do you rent the property then? It's not your home. Do you have to pay rent every week? Yeah. Okay, all right. Sorry. Every month. Every month. Okay. This was the big expense Mark needed funds for. The money wasn't going toward legal defense. They needed it for phone calls.

Household expenses. Donations to support martyred bishops of the Genesis 2 church. According to Barbara, they were paying rent on a house outside Tampa. My name is Mary. They're fine, actually. Well, they're kind of older now, so, you know, they're okay. It's just been hard with COVID and everything. But, you know, there's kind of a lot of cut off in supports and things.

But they're okay. They're happy. And that's all that matters, you know, healthy and happy. Fiona is at it again. Able to connect to the enemy, bond with them even, but lay a meticulously stealth trap. For years, Market claimed the government was in it for themselves. They were simply threatened by the idea of medical freedom.

It's an idea that gained popularity on its own parallel track through the mid-2000s and flourished in the age of COVID. There are plenty of times in which Mark and his son's behavior, particularly in front of law enforcement, makes no sense. They appear to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the criminal justice system works, particularly in America. They're naive. They leave their rules. running app public. But this time, Mark was making shrewd political moves. He saw a movement in America. Maybe he was the product of it, and he capitalized on a moment. He courted the sheer rage so many felt toward big institutions that had failed them repeatedly. It's like Daniel Smith's

slogan, I'm not a monster. Mark wasn't a criminal. He was a political prisoner. hashtag free the Grenens. Here he is on the Sons of Liberty podcast. I think you have the law on your side, brother. We do. I mean, I mean what the law that the pharmacists. Yeah, they've got the pretended legislation. Yeah.

Exactly. But we have God and God's going to, we're probably the best guys to lock up and make a stand for this because we have the Lord. And on another podcast where he's introduced, as a political prisoner under the medical police state. An image appears on the screen in big black lettering over a red background. All caps. Free the Grenines.

Yes, I can hear you, Mark. It's not too bad. The federal police. What is happening to us? Why are we in jail? Are we criminals? Are we danger? Are we violent people?

And it wouldn't stop him from preaching. or prescribing MMS. My sons are preaching in prison. I'm preaching here in Colombia. It was a great opportunity to get the word out. Mark became the perfect plaintiff. His sensibilities were strategic. He became a martyr because it fit comfortably

into the political reality of the contemporary right wing. I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm just trying to get as much time as I get in this phone before they shut the phone off. And again, God bless you all. Mark, the political prisoner, was hopeful that his wrongful imprisonment would be overturned, that the government would recognize the colossal mistake they'd made in arresting him, that they were at fault, not him.

He was adamant about this. He knew the law better than those enforcing it. Nothing worked. No one would save him. His right-wing talking points wouldn't gain. traction. Circumstances grew especially dire when Joe, his son and jail companion, was extradited in December 2021. It was only a matter of time before Mark would be extradited too. Joseph that was with me in Columbia, we were captured the same day. I call it kidnapped the same day.

And now he's been in Miami for five months and I'm still waiting to leave. And And the reason is, I really believe 99% the reason is they kept the wait for me to be there before they can do a trial. And they don't want me to be there because they're scared of this trial. Despite what Mark was alleging, things were moving ahead for Joseph in Florida. He appeared before Judge Chris McAley in Miami on December 29th, right before the new year. The scene played out pretty much like his brothers. He said he'd be defending himself. The judge asked if he'd ever represented himself before,

if he'd ever been in trouble before. No and no, he said. Then clarified, first time in legal trouble. Judge McAley told Joseph he would be held without bond pending trial. Then, McAley brought up Mark's podcast, the one where he shared his choice words for Judge Kathleen Williams. I'll have someone else read from the transcript here. And you have made public statements,

that you defied the order, that you don't recognize the authority of this court, that you don't think you have to follow the order, and that basically you're doing whatever you please. No, it's now my turn for you to listen to me. I listen to you. Because I want you to understand why I'm detaining you. You have a right to know it. So, I'm looking to see, do I have somebody in front of me, who I think will obey the order of a court, which is what a bond is, and your own behavior speaks very compellingly to me that I can't trust you to do that. Your statements about you could be taken out, Ms. Williams, I view those as a threat, and you should understand that. You should understand that somebody in my shoes, when I hear that, that a party, who I've ordered

to do something, refuses to obey it and says I could be taken out, I would consider that a threat. You've got to be smart enough to get that. So Joseph and his brothers would all wait in jail and wait to see where their dad ended up, meaning Mark's big day would likely come soon too. You might remember this story from 2020 when we showed you a Bradenton home raided by feds on accusations that four family members were selling bleach as a COVID cure. Mark got an extra 15 minutes of fame in July 2022. One of those men, 64-year-old Mark Brennan, was arrested in Columbia, and recently extradited to appear in Miami federal court yesterday. Mark was going back to the U.S.

But he wasn't joining his sons in Miami like Jordan and Jonathan. Instead, Mark and Joseph were sent to a psychiatric institution in Texas. Meanwhile, their trial was pushed. from September 2022 to early 2023. And then summer 2020. Mark, once at the helm of an international church, a big effing deal in his mind, was now sitting in a psychiatric institution.

There are some mental gymnastics at play here. Mark and his family, they're just like you. They've been forgotten by the elite, the government, the powerful, just like you. But when it comes to playing by the rules, he's special. Here he is on yet another podcast. The other voice you hear is the host. He didn't belong here. The other people here are crazy, he says.

Before that, he strips. Yeah. He equates himself to someone enslaved. He says he's trapped, humiliated. Probably another tactic by the FDA to make a mockery of Mark and his medical freedom, he figured. But Mark had big plans. He was going to expose these judges. Yeah.

I keep thinking back to those early podcast episodes, where Mark is quick to invoke divine intervention in his life story. While he still acknowledges a higher power, the string of misfortunes perhaps has made him more weary. less quick to make his fate seem predetermined. Anyway, the judges, for their part, were not impressed by the repeated threats or tales of woe. They said as much when they started receiving an envelope

from each of the sons, with letters addressed to the judge. Each document included the signature of the Grennan who filed it. But these motions weren't sent from Texas. Their return address was stamped Spokane, Washington. So someone, not their appointed counsel, was sending in motions. Motions need to be filed by the defendant or his lawyer, the judge warned. In other words, cut it out.

But the Grinens had another trick up their sleeve. They'd accused the judge of prosecutorial misconduct. They still hadn't had the speedy trial they were entitled to. The judge denied this motion, too. Throughout the process, the Grinnan's had to be a judge. had navigated the legal system solo. Even as judges encouraged them strongly to get a lawyer, they refused. They cited the corrupt bar association that all they needed was Jesus, that they knew what

they were doing. They spoke as a united front in the courtroom on telegram through their surrogates. That is, until August 2022. So guess what? You are going to be followed up. And we're going to talk to the sheriff. You should stay away from here. You should never be coming here again.

Because Jesus Christ is Lord, and he will come one day, and he's going to save us from this. You have no right here. You are nothing to me. You are nothing. Jonathan Grennan, the son who shouted from his lawn at the feds. Okay, I got you guys. Guess what? I'm going to the sheriff with this, and this is illegal here because this is a church property.

The guy who invoked his divine and consternation. right to practice his religion freely. He tapped out and hired a lawyer. It was a shocker to everyone following the story, writing on the wall perhaps for the future of Genesis 2. And things weren't about to get any better. After announced, I copy and emails and telephone numbers, so I'll be busy for a while, but I might write you again or call you.

At the end of November, Mark was moved again, into custody in Tallahassee, Florida. Throughout this time, Mark's stepson kept everyone in the know and released Mark's voice memos, like this one. So keep your phone next to you because I'm going to be leaving in three hours. I got a lot to do in three hours. So I appreciate if you be up, or at least in bed with your phone by you, please. It felt like they were waiting forever for their day in court. He sounds tired, but hopeful, just needs money to keep their dream of freedom alive.

Apparently, it worked. At least a little bit. Mark's stories of woe and victimhood were enough to hook someone named David Lester Straight. A man who, apparently, lends his legal advice to causes like Ammon Biden. That's one of the anti-government activists famous for his occupation and standoffs with the government in the Pacific Northwest. He didn't respond to our request for comment. Now, I don't know if Strait found Greton or the other way around, but they seem a little bit like kindred spirits. The two evidently linked up, and Strait became the person collecting all of the Grennan's money.

And our bodies will be also Lord Willard. and what we are doing today's like to David. And I should say here that Mark wouldn't have continued with the seemingly enlist fundraising if it wasn't working. The way he tells it, the Grennan families covered their basic needs during the years they've been in prison. But they needed help now, more than ever. Mark kept asking, posting, telling people he needed money,

asking that funds go right to David. Even Barbara Grennan asked for contributions. and David was supposed to gather it all up and distribute it to the family. A lot of these conversations happened on Telegram, where Mark supporters felt they could converse with impunity. And then another message came in on Telegram in November. This one linked to a new fundraiser. There was a problem.

A quote-unquote sizable amount of funds directed to David Lester Strait apparently never made it to Mark. David Lester Strait was not the guy you wanted to send money to. So Mark supporters asked again for more money. They hoped, I guess, people would have a little bit of faith and donate a second time. Last we checked, they'd raised over $12,000. Their goal was $100,000. So now, Mark, Joseph, Jonathan, and Jordan were all in U.S. custody.

It seemed like this was enough to stem the tide of Emmer. The people peddling the cure had finally been caught. But it turned out, the marketplace was filled with sellers. They've made 1,130 sales on this marketplace. They sell what appears to be just MMS. MMS had been chased off mainstream medium platforms like YouTube and Facebook and into the dark corners of the internet, like Breitian and Telegram. telegram. And then it had been chased right back into the mainstream.

Wow. That's all they sell. Imperial California. Yeah. That is not too far from me. That's true. MMS is so in the mainstream, so unregulated, that you can find it on a website, usually associated with handmade knitwear and artisanal candles. You can get kits. They have like, they have like, they have like, It looks like gift packages, like stocking stuffer packages of MMS.

For $115, three kits. So where in the world is MMS now? On Etsy. That's next time. Smokescreen Dead Lake Hurr is an original production by Neon Hum Media, Sony Music Entertainment, and Bloomberg. It was written and produced by Carla Green, Kate Mishkin, and Jonathan Hirsch. Our associate producers are Nirvana Otero, Zoe Culkin, and Anne Lynn.

Production assistance from Stacey Wong, Jilda DeCarly, and Magnus Hynrickson. Editing by Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, and Maureen McMarie. Catherine St. Louis is our executive editor. Sound design and mixing by Scott Somerville. Theme and original music composed by Asha Ivanovich. Catherine Nguyen is our fact checker. Our production manager is Sammy Allison. Alexis Martinez is our podcast coordinator.

Our executive producers are Jonathan Hirsch, Katie Boyce, and Jared Sandberg. Thomas Buckley's reporting on Genesis 2 for Bloomberg informed the development of this series. Special thanks to Chloe Chobal, Krista Ripple, Stephanie Serrano, O'Delia Rubin, Liz Sanchez, Shera Morris, and Jeff Grocott. I'm Kristen v. Brown. Be sure to rate and review the show. It helps more people find and hear this story. Thanks for listening. For emergency assistance, please call Poison Help at 1-800-222-2-1. 222 to speak with a poison expert or visit poisonhelp.org for additional resources.