Julio Jones and Roddy White Are Being Sued for Fraud and Money Laundering After Allegedly Selling Hundreds of Pounds of Cannabis on the Black Market
Larry Brown Sports — Julio Jones and Roddy White are being sued by a cannabis company for alleged fraud and money laundering, among other allegations.
A cannabis business called “Genetix” filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on July 21 that names Jones, White and White’s company “SLW Holdings, Inc.” as one of the defendants.
Genetixs, which is comprised of five members including White’s SLW company, says they obtained a cannabis license from the Department of Cannabis Regulation through its Social Equity Program.
The business says it intended to take part in a legal cannabis operation, following the guidelines in California.
Genetixs leased a facility in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. in Feb. 2020 where they intended to cultivate and grow cannabis in accordance with state regulations. However, the complaint alleges that things went wrong when Genetixs hired a man named John Van Beek to oversee the buildout and management of their facility.
Genetixs alleges that Jones and White, who were teammates on the Atlanta Falcons for five years, went behind the company’s back to work with the Van Beeks. The Van Beeks allegedly cultivated and grew cannabis for sale on the illegal black market, enriching themselves and Jones and White. The Van Beeks disconnected cameras in the facility, began squatting there, and prevented a new manager from entering the facility, according to the complaint.
Well this is a new one.
Former Atlanta Falcons teammates Julio Jones and Roddy White are apparently in a bit of a pickle as it relates to a company they're both involved with and the distribution of some cannabis. If this lawsuit turns out to be anything nearing the truth, this would be one of the wilder stories I can remember in some time.
When I first came across this, I was sure it had to be some sort of joke or just straight-up false, because both of these guys seem like the last two athletes I would have guessed would be caught up in a multi-million dollar money laundering lawsuit, but it's definitely real. You can check out the entire complaint filed to the Superior Court of the State of California below, if you're into that sort of thing.
I don't know how much White is involved with this company of his now that he's retired, but I at least have a hard time believing Julio has been going for 1,400 yards every season and running some sort of Walter White scheme in his free time. It seems like this John Van Beek fella could be the one who was doing all the moving and shaking.
And this isn't a criminal charge, so I guess there isn't that much to worry about from a football standpoint for Jones — he might simply lose a whole lot of money. But either way, I definitely did not ever think he would be caught up in something like this.
And while Jones is no longer playing for the Falcons, he is a Falcon for life in my book. And on an unrelated note, we operate under an innocent until proven guilty — or I suppose innocent until found liable, in this case — framework in this country and that is how everyone should treat these fine men until they are afforded their day in court.