Marijuana mogul Dayspring spotted in SLO County with ankle monitor

August 22, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

Former marijuana mogul Helios Dayspring appeared to be at ease last week while running errands in San Luis Obispo County after his March release from prison.

On Aug. 15, a neighbor of Dayspring spotted the 37-year-old entering one of his former cannabis grows on Tierra Redonda Road near Oak Shores. He was wearing an ankle monitor, a black T-shirt and shorts, a photo shows.

Dayspring is currently serving a 22-month sentence for bribery and tax fraud. After just seven months in prison, in March he was transferred to home confinement under a program initiated to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Since then, several neighbors of Dayspring’s former pot farms have voiced concerns that the man who they reported harassed and threatened them appears to be violating his home confinement terms. However, it appears he is in compliance with Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies.

While on home confinement, federal detainees are granted passes for activities within the community where they are permitted to travel unescorted, according to the BOP. Federal employees conduct accountability checks throughout the day.

“When passes are granted for community activity, (e.g., employment search or attendance, religious meetings, family reunification), activity is approved at a specific location and during specific times only,” according to the BOP. “Deviations from the approved location are not allowed.”

Dayspring sold many of his properties in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties at a recent auction, while other property holdings remain on the market.

Kathy Kroeker, who lives next door to Dayspring’s Tierra Redonda Road property, repeatedly reported Dayspring, his employees and partners for harassment and trespassing, with little support from county staff, Kroeker said.

Initially, Dayspring introduced himself as a boy from the area, Kroeker said. But then he tried to get her to sign a document allowing him an easement through her property. After she refused, Dayspring allegedly threatened her.

“He thought I was just some dumb hick and I was going to sign his letter,” Kroeker said. “Dayspring’s last words were that ‘every time the hill people come after me, I win.’ He said he could do what ever he wanted to do. While he claimed to be uneducated, he called people who lived in rural areas ‘hill people.'”

Dayspring’s attorney Ty Green, with the SLO-baced firm Adamski Moroski Madden Cumberland & Green, also attempted to get Kroeker to sign an easement while one of his partners allegedly harassed and trespassed on her land.

“It is a slap in my face,” Kroeker said of Dayspring’s short sentence and home confinement. “He needed to serve at least three to four years in prison. The sad thing is they only got him on tax evasion and bribery. He should have been charged for the threats he made.”

In 2016, CalCoastNews first reported allegations that former SLO County Supervisor Adam Hill was asking marijuana business owners to pay bribes in return for favorable votes. For years, CalCoastNews exclusively reported about Dayspring’s alleged bribery, tax evasion, illegal cannabis sales and property fraud.

After his home was raided, Dayspring admitted to paying thousands of dollars in bribes to former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill for favorable votes on his cannabis business interests. While under a federal investigation, Hill committed suicide.

Dayspring agreed to plead guilty to bribery and tax evasion, pay $3.4 million in restitution to the IRS and cooperate in the government’s ongoing investigation, as part of a plea agreement.

Dayspring is scheduled for release on Nov. 18, 2023, after spending a little more than a year in custody.

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