Former SLO County cannabis businessman pleads guilty to bribery, tax evasion. What’s next?

Oct. 25—Former San Luis Obispo County cannabis business owner Helios Dayspring pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges, formally admitting his role in a bribery scheme and under-reporting millions of dollars in taxes, according to U.S. District Court records.

Helios Raphael “Bobby” Dayspring, founder and former majority owner of Natural Healing Center, entered a guilty plea Friday to bribery and filing a false income tax return.

Dayspring appeared in a video conference hearing on Friday in the Central District of U.S. District Court before Judge André Birotte Jr.

Under his Oct. 14 plea agreement, signed by defense attorney Sandra Brown-Bodner, 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.”

“During this same period, defendant also provided (Hill) cannabis products on multiple occasions free of charge and paid for multiple meals for (Hill),” the agreement states.

Dayspring provided the supervisor this “stream of benefits” with the understanding that Hill “would vote on cannabis legislation benefiting his cannabis farms, advocate other public officials in support of cannabis legislation benefiting Dayspring’s farms, and disclose non-public county information concerning cannabis-related issues,” the document states.

SLO County cannabis business owner faces federal prison

In addition, Dayspring admitted to under-reporting his individual taxable income between 2014 and 2018 by about $9 million, resulting in a tax loss of $3.4 million, according to the plea agreement.

Dayspring must work with the IRS to assess and pay back those tax liabilities over the five-year period of his admitted tax evasion, according to the plea filing.

Dayspring also must cooperate with authorities to respond truthfully to “all questions that may be put to (him), whether in interviews, before a grand jury, or at any trial or other court proceeding,” the document states.

Dayspring faces up to 13 years in federal prison and $500,000 in fines, or “twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offenses, whichever is greatest,” according to court records.

The court is referring the case to the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office for investigation and reporting.

Dayspring is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11.

News of Dayspring’s guilty plea comes about a week after Natural Healing Center employees unsuccessfully lobbied the San Luis Obispo City Council to reverse city staff’s decision to revoke NHC’s retail shop operator permit and allow the company to open a retail store at 2640 Broad St. in San Luis Obispo.

It would be the fourth location for NHC, which has retail shops in Morro Bay, Grover Beach and Lemoore.

On Oct. 19, about 50 NHC employees staged a rally outside City Hall and spoke during public comment at a City Council meeting that night.

The workers pointed out that NHC is now under new majority ownership, with Valnette Garcia, Dayspring’s girlfriend, controlling the company.

They argued that Garcia is not accused of committed any crimes and the company’s employees would be hurt if the shop couldn’t open in October as planned.

But the revocation of the permit was based on “misrepresentations and omissions made throughout the (NHC) application and permitting process with the city that were defined from the get-go in our processes as automatic disqualifying events,” Christine Dietrick, San Luis Obispo city attorney, said at the Oct. 19 council meeting.

This story was originally published October 25, 2021 1:52 PM.