Jay Odom backing medical marijuana nursery

Panhandle developer Jay Odom is bankrolling a Northeast Florida operation licensed by health officials to grow, process and distribute non-euphoric marijuana products, a lawyer for Chestnut Hill Tree Farm confirmed Wednesday.

Odom was sentenced to six months in prison three years ago after he pleaded guilty in a 2007 scheme to funnel $23,000 in campaign contributions through employees or their family members to a presidential candidate.

Odom, who at one time was a major Republican fundraiser and a supporter of former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, also played a prominent role in an airplane hangar controversy that led to the exodus of former House Speaker Ray Sansom from the Legislature in 2009.

Questions about Chestnut Hill’s financing arose during a hearing Wednesday involving Loop’s Nursery and Greenhouses, a Jacksonville-based grower trying to get one of a handful of highly sought-after “dispensing organization” licenses awarded by state health officials. Those questions delved into Odom’s financial wherewithal in backing Chestnut Hill.

Loop’s lawyer Jon Moyle grilled state Office of Compassionate Use Director Christian Bax about notes Bax made last year when evaluating five applications for a license in the Northeast region.

Because Odom’s name is not part of the public record, Administrative Law Judge R. Bruce McKibben asked Bax to refer to the Destin developer as “the man” during questioning by Moyle about Chestnut Hill’s financials.

Bax said he was concerned about Chestnut Hill’s ability to stay in business for at least two years —- something applicants were asked to prove —- if granted a dispensing organization license.

Bax, reading from his notes, said it appeared to him that “the man’s net worth appears … to be inflated” at the time he evaluated Chestnut Hill’s application.

“None of the man’s” financial statements were audited or validated by third parties, Bax said, again reading from the notes he made when scoring the applications last year.

“The financial information of the man’s personal financial statements is inconsistent with the company financials he provided,” Bax read. “Without further explanation of the inconsistencies in company values, the man’s net worth appears, from the provided documentation, to be inflated.”

But John Lockwood, Chestnut Hill’s lawyer, told The News Service of Florida on Wednesday that money is not an issue.

“Jay has more than enough capital to ensure that this deal is completed,” Lockwood said in a telephone interview. “Money is of no concern to the operations of this business.”

Odom is a lender for the grow operation, Lockwood said. It is unknown how much money Odom has lent the organization or how much he has pledged.

Odom also passed what is known as a “level 2” background screen, required by law for owners and managers of the dispensing organizations, Lockwood said.

Odom “may become an owner in the future,” the lawyer said.

Under a 2014 law, the Department of Health in November awarded one dispensing-organization license in each of five regions of the state. While Bax gave Loop’s the highest ranking of the five applicants seeking a license in the Northeast region, the panel’s combined evaluations resulted in Chestnut Hill’s license, Lockwood pointed out.