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Title: Amish farmer sold herbal health products. He’s going to prison for 6 years.
Source:
Lexigton Herald-Leader
URL Source: http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/ ... le159031869.html#storylink=cpy
Published: Jun 30, 2017
Author: Anti-Media
Post Date: 2017-07-05 09:19:56 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 4160
Comments: 18
An Amish man was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for obstructing a federal agency and for making and selling herbal health products that were not adequately labeled as required by federal law. Samuel A. Girod of Bath County, a member of the Old Order Amish faith, was convicted in March on 13 charges, including threatening a person in an attempt to stop him from providing information to a grand jury. U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves repeatedly asked Girod in court if he wished to make a statement but Girod refused. Girod, who represented himself, does not acknowledge that the court has jurisdiction. “I do not waive my immunity to this court,” Girod told the judge. “I do not consent.” Girod has become a cause for some who see him as a victim of the federal government. More than 27,000 people have signed an online petition seeking to have him released from jail. About 75 supporters of Girod, including many Amish, gathered near the federal courthouse on Barr Street in downtown Lexington before and after the sentencing. “We still have a country where people still come together to help each other,” said Emanuel Schlabach, 27, an Amish man from Logan County. As assistant U.S. attorneys left the courthouse after the sentencing, Girod supporters jeered them. “Shame on you!” shouted one supporter. One non-Amish supporter, Richard Mack of Arizona, said after the sentencing that, “This is a national disgrace and outrage. ... He is being punished for being stubborn.” Mack, a former Arizona sheriff and political activist, said he and others will ask President Donald Trump to issue a pardon to Girod. Mack said he has used Girod’s chickweed salve with no ill effects. Girod operated a business in Bath County that made products to be used for skin disorders, sinus infections and cancer. One product called TO-MOR-GONE contained an extract of bloodroot that had a caustic, corrosive effect on human skin, according to an indictment. A federal court in Missouri had barred Girod from distributing the products until he met certain conditions, including letting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspect his business. But when two agents tried to inspect the plant in November 2013, Girod and others blocked them and made them leave, the indictment charged. Federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Girod knowingly and intentionally sold misbranded products to customers and did not tell any of them about the injunction. At trial, customers testified that they would not have purchased his products if they had known about the injunction. Girod argued that his products weren’t subject to Federal Drug Administration oversight because they were herbal remedies, not drugs. He also argued that requiring FDA approval of his products infringed on his religious freedom. Old Order Amish seek to insulate themselves from the modern world, including modern pharmaceuticals, he said. Federal jurors rejected Girod’s defense, convicting him of conspiring to impede federal officers; obstructing a proceeding before a federal agency; failing to register with the FDA as required; tampering with a witness; failing to appear before a hearing; and distributing misbranded drugs. In the matter of TO-MOR-GONE, the jury decided that the product label didn’t have adequate warnings against its use in cases when using it would be dangerous, and that it would endanger health when used in the dose and manner suggested on the package. In documents filed June 19, Girod argued that the charges in the indictment “do not apply to me.” “I am not a creation of state/government, as such I am not within its jurisdiction,” Girod wrote. He added later: “The proceedings of the ‘United States District Court’ cannot be applied within the jurisdiction of the ‘State of Kentucky.’” Girod’s supporters outside the courthouse said his case is an example of overreach by the federal government. “I don’t need the FDA to protect me from an Amish farmer,” read a sign held by T.J. Roberts, a Transylvania University student from Boone County. “I feel what happened here is an example of judges making the law,” Roberts said. “What the FDA did here is an example of executive overreach in which they are choosing what Americans can put in or on their own bodies. I struggle to find where the victim is in this and where the crime was committed.” But Judge Reeves said Girod brought the trouble on himself “because he steadfastly refused to follow the law.” To Girod, Reeves said, “You refused to follow anyone but yourself.”
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#1. To: All (#0)
Chickweed is a drug...who knew? Next spring the DEA will probably have swat teams at my house.
#3. To: All (#1)
Complete (Condensed) Story: FDA vs. Samuel Girod Samuel Girod [G as in Gee: gi-ROD] and his family have been making and selling three all-natural herbal products for nearly 20 years. No one has ever been harmed by the products; the Girods have pages of testimonials and scores of repeat customers. Similar products are currently made and sold online worldwide (including on Amazon) by other people using the same or similar basic ingredients. The recipes are online as well, you can make them in your kitchen. In 2001, an FDA agent informed Sam that his product labels were making medical claims regarding healing certain conditions. At the time, Sam’s label said, ““[g]ood for all skin disorders. Skin cancer, cuts, burns, draws, and poison ivy.” Sam had to change his label, removing the skin cancer claim specifically, or do very expensive testing proving the claims. Sam changed the label, removing any reference to skin cancer. Sam did not receive any further communication from the FDA until 2012 when someone called the FDA and reported that a store in MO was selling Sam’s products and that medical claims were being made. The “medical claims” were in fact customer testimonials contained in a brochure about Sam’s products! These testimonials are no different than Amazon reviews, yet, in Sam’s case, the FDA calls these “medical claims” which puts Sam’s products under their jurisdiction. So sayeth the FDA. Then the FDA claimed to have found a MO customer who had been harmed by Sam’s bloodroot salve. In early 2013, during the investigation on that claim, FDA agents went to Sam’s home and demanded a warrantless search. Wanting to be cooperative, Sam said OK on one condition: that no photographs were taken (the Amish are religiously opposed to photography). The agents said no problem, no photos. Then they got on the property, whipped out their cameras and took photos of everything. During this investigation, the Girods discover that, not only has this customer never been identified or produced, the bloodroot salve this customer used was not even Sam’s!!! Yet that federal judge in MO put an injunction on Sam’s products with three stipulations: Sam complied with 1 and 2: he stopped selling the bloodroot salve and stopped using the brochures. He was not so compliant with the searches. In late 2013, after the injunction, FDA agents came to do a second search. Sam informed them that nothing had changed since the first search 7 months earlier, and that, since they had lied and taken photos during the first search, they were not welcome to do a second. The FDA agents had a Bath County Sheriff’s deputy along with them (as required since they are federal agents rather than state). This sheriff witnessed the entire event and eventually told the agents to leave the property. Which they did. These three product sales are how Sam’s family made their living. They had been denied this right via an arbitrary regulation made up by a federal agency and with NO VICTIM. So the Girods started selling their products again, in defiance of the injunction. Then, in 2014, Sam started a legal private membership club and sold his products to members via that framework. Perfectly legal and the Girods believed this allowed them to sell the products. Meanwhile, the FDA started criminal proceedings against Sam for disobeying the injunction (selling his products and refusing the search) plus two other very serious charges: 1. The FDA agents claimed that, when they came for the 2nd search in late 2013, Sam and his family threatened them with physical violence. That is ludicrous enough on the face of it. Plus, the Sheriff’s deputy testified under oath that absolutely no threats were made, that essentially, the FDA agents lied under oath. 2. The FDA also charged Sam with witness tampering. The witness who was supposedly tampered with? Read the eyewitness account of Mary Miller’s testimony, link below. (2) The Trial 2.27.17 The Amish do not use lawyers as a rule and Sam did not. This is a decision made by the community, not just the accused. Apparently the Amish don’t trust lawyers. Imagine that. Because he barely presented a defense against federal prosecutors for whom money and conscience are not problems, Sam was convicted on all counts. (3) The judge ordered Sam to remain in jail until sentencing on 6/16/17. He’s been in jail since 2/27/17. Had Sam had a good attorney, he would certainly have been acquitted on the most egregious counts (threatening federal agents and witness tampering). These charges were clearly manufactured solely to make Sam into a “real” criminal, with the FDA being the only victim. The only other charges — selling “drugs” across state lines — were manufactured out of whole cloth as well. The FDA’s own tests proved that the products were not drugs, that they were made from all-natural ingredients!!! These charges should have been dismissed from the start. Sam’s sentencing is 6/30 and he is looking at up to 68 years in prison and up to $3M in fines. This is essentially a life sentence for charges stemming from an innocent labeling infraction! Read about the sentencing here. There is a better way to handle this. Let us Americans make healing claims on our products with the disclaimer, “These claims have not been scientifically proven. Please use your internet and library to verify claims to your own satisfaction prior to use.” Sam’s prosecution is a prime example of bureaucracy run amok, enforcement for enforcement’s sake to justify an agency’s existence. There are literally thousands of people in jail (4) for breaking agency regulations fabricated by the agencies! Their rules and regulations are as arbitrary and illegal as they can be, with the result of making us all criminals in our own homes.
Damn....I would pay BIG money to see that happen!
He is lucky they did not kill his dogs, cats, horses, cattle, burn down his barns & house, and destroy his buggy. This case is a joke !! all involved on the prosecution side should be ashamed !!
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Replies to Comment # 1. 
Burning Questions
A SOLUTION
Who exactly is being protected here?
#4. To: Deckard (#1)
Next spring the DEA will probably have swat teams at my house.
#7. To: Deckard (#1)
" Amish farmer sold herbal health products. He’s going to prison for 6 years. "
End Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
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