A legal dispute and technical problems during a state commission meeting Tuesday will delay the sale of a Heber Springs dispensary for at least another month.
The owners of Enlightened cannabis for people of Heber Springs had asked the state Medical Marijuana Commission for approval to sell the company to Daniel BrownOwner of BOLD-Team Cultivation of the cotton plant.
Some of the owners of the Heber Springs pharmacy filed a lawsuit in 2022 against Nate Steel And Alex GrayExecutives of Hello Farm Arkansaswho have filed counterclaims in the case. The plaintiffs claim Steel and Gray recruited friends and others to act as figureheads for out-of-state operators. The plaintiffs claim they were left with thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes without generating any revenue from the deal.
Steel and Gray have alleged in their counterclaim that the plaintiffs, including their former law partner Michael Wrightone of the owners of the Heber Springs pharmacy, was aware of their representation of out-of-state companies and knew that Wright had asked them to buy his pharmacy for $6.4 million. When they refused, Wright allegedly threatened to publish salacious and false allegations against them.
At the Commission hearing on Tuesday, Commissioners approved the sale after hearing from lawyers representing a number of people involved in the sale and the lawsuits. The then-Chairman James Miller called for a roll call vote.
According to Miller and Commissioner Tyler Ketner confirmed their votes for the sale, several attempts to get commissioner Reggie Thomaswho was participating remotely, were unsuccessful. Thomas later rejoined the conference call and said he missed part of the conversation and did not hear all the arguments that were made during the discussion of the issue.
For this reason, the vote on this matter did not count and the sale was postponed until next month’s meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, state employees Control of alcoholic beverages The department responsible for regulating the industry said it had no objections to the change of ownership of the Heber Springs pharmacy.
Doralee Chandlerthe Commission’s lawyer from the Attorney General’s Office, expressed concerns that the action might concern the Commission. Although the allegations made in the action and the damages claimed do not concern the Commission, she could not say that the Commission was not involved.
Julia B.who represents Brown, one of the owners of the BOLD team, said the commission is not involved in the lawsuit and said the commission should be able to approve the sale at the meeting.
Scott Poynterwho represents the sellers, including those who filed the lawsuit, reviewed some of the claims in the lawsuit against Gray and Steel and explained how his clients were forced to pay large tax bills without generating any income from the deal.
John Tullrepresenting Gray and Steel, rejected Poynter’s claims, saying the sale would make it harder for Gray and Steel to seek damages from a management company that would be eliminated in the transaction.
Dominic Daschlerepresenting Good Day Farm Arkansas filed a letter with the commission on Monday saying Good Day filed lawsuits last week over unpaid debts against four pharmacies. The sale of those pharmacies, which includes the Heber Springs store, would affect those businesses’ ability to generate revenue to pay off their debts to Good Day Farm, the letter said.
Due to the technical problems, the Commission adjourned the matter to its next meeting on 5 September at 15:30.
When Thomas was back on the line, the Commission voted in favour of a motion by Green light for Helena-West-Helena to Brinkley. The move had the “unwavering support” of Brinkley Mayor Billy Hankins and the city of Brinkley. Hankins had submitted a letter of support to the commission.
Greenlight Helena tried to move to Stuttgart last year, but withdrew the application due to resistance from the community.
