Cannabis Company Sues NFL Stars for Alleged Black Market Marijuana Sales

People get sued all the time, but it came as a rude shock when the NFL fans' favourite Julio Jones was sued alongside three others based on extremely unusual allegations.

LarryBrownSports.com was the first news channel to break the news of this lawsuit to the public.

NFL Stars, Julio Jones and Roddy White are one of the defendants being sued by the California-based cannabis company known as Genetixs.

The stars are being persecuted for alleged claims of illegally harvesting and selling off millions of dollars of marijuana in California.

According to the court records, the complaint— Genetixs says that the NFL stars have not reported sales from the cannabis farm since March. The complaints estimate that the defendants have illegally acquired at least $3 million worth of cannabis each month since then. Meaning the NFL stars have harvested and sold over $15 million worth of cannabis through the last five months

Roddy White is a former Atlanta Falcons player who owns SLW Holdings, one of the five entities that make up the Genetix company. Julio Jones is the all-time leader in catches and receiving yards for the Falcons. A few weeks ago in June, he was traded to Tennessee. He is now the wide receiver of the Tennessee Titans.

The 26-paged lawsuit was filed in early July and it details the large scope of the defendant's charges. Including theft, black market sales, money laundering, improper documentation of assets and expenses, and diversion of said assets. The actions of the defendants have allegedly caused the parent company, Genetixs, irreparable damage and harm. The worth of the cannabis sold is quite substantial.

The lawsuit also states that Julio Jones and Roddy White are in a partnership with two other defendants. It claims that the group has been running a black market sales of harvested marijuana plants from the complaint's company, Genetixs LLC based in Desert Hot Springs, California.

Allegations Or Conspiracy Theories???

The defendants' attorney, Rafe Emmanuel reportedly explained that the contents of the lawsuit are "conspiracy theories" that cannot be proven.

He said that the charges placed against the NFL stars and their company, SLW Holdings LLC holds no truth and are meritless.

According to reports obtained from Rafe's interview with The Tennessean, SLW Holdings secured a temporary restoring order against Genetixs LLC. This was obtained in a related civil case to deter any form of unlawful conduct from the complaint. The attorneys also argue that the "conspiracy theories" cannot be proven by evidence in a legal court session, nor can they be corroborated by any agency.

This type of comment from a defendant's attorney is expected. It is normal for a defendant to bluff and describe the contents of a filed lawsuit as "meritless conspiracy theories" at the onset of the court proceedings.

For now, the contents of the 26-paged lawsuit looks to be rock-solid. It also looks secure enough to last through the normal court process. Many are describing the words of the defendant's attorney as an effort to get the case trashed or dismissed. Although, it is highly doubted that this case would get thrown out at this stage.

The defendants had better pull their resources together to commence the gathering of evidence to disprove the allegations contained in the lawsuit.

Jones' new team, The Tennessee Titans have not given any comment regarding the lawsuit. However, a spokesperson for the team acknowledged that the management was fully aware of the lawsuit between their player and Genetixs.

More Details in the Lawsuit

The complaint also claims that the company terminated the appointment of one of its managers in March after a series of violations were reported after a state inspection of the California based facility. According to the complaint, the manager has since refused to submit previous cannabis sales reports and has also failed to bring forth all business paperwork ( including budgets) that belongs to Genetixs.

Jones, White and the other defendants involved in the case we're reported to have started the illegal operations just after the manager was fired. They proceeded to sell harvested cannabis plants from the Genetics Cannabis Facility in California, after which all the sales proceeds were diverted to other accounts without proper documentation to the Genetixs board.

The legality of the Genetixs Company

Genetixs obtained its license to sell Cannabis from the state of California.

The sales and use of marijuana for the recreational purpose was legalized in January 2018. The state hosts several business companies that grow, harvest, process and sell Cannabis to retailers in the state.

Fortunately, the lawsuit states that the state expects that all licensed businesses must use a track-and-trace system to properly document the legal movement of cannabis and all related products through the commercial supply chain in the state.

The board of Geneticx LLC alleges that it now faces a possible threat of losing its licence to grow and sell Cannabis in California due to the illegal actions of the defendants; Julio Jones, Roddy White and two others.

What this means for Julio Jones

It seems the management of the Tennessee Titans has decided to keep their comments for now. The board looks to be waiting for the lawsuits to be concluded before it can decide the right steps to take.

This lawsuit may very well leave a stain on the organization as a whole if the defendants are found to be guilty. Julio Jones may also have his contract terminated if he is found guilty. Black market sales and money laundering are charges that cannot be trivialized.

If the case doesn't get thrown out anytime soon, it will move to trial and either Jones or White will be put under oath on a stand. Both of them can also be called to the stand and they will be subjected to some questions to know the extent of their involvement in the alleged crimes.

This could be damaging to Julio Jones' career.

In the next few days/weeks...

A series of documents, emails, text messages and other relevant pieces of information will be submitted and reviewed by both parties to see if the case can be settled without trials.

Only time can tell how this is going to swing.