Fake Gluten Free Baker Paul Seelig Appeals 2011 Convictions

Remember the infamous fake Gluten Free Baker Paul Seelig?  If not, get caught up here.  This is the guy who started a fake Gluten Free bakery and then sold regular Gluten filled products as Gluten Free to dozens of folks (including Celiacs) throughout the Raleigh-Durham area back in the late 2009/early 2010 time frame.  In April 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to 9-11 years in prison.  He is currently spending his days at the Lumberton Correctional Institution until 5/14/2020.

For several reasons, he's decided to file for an appeal on his convictions (even though in court during his trial he pleaded guilty and stood there and asked for all of his victims to forgive him).  His submitted Brief to the court is here.  Arguments will be presented to the Court of Appeals on Thursday, November 13th, 2012 at 9:30am.  If you have any interest in this case or were a previous victim, please consider attending this hearing.

North Carolina Court of Appeals
Thursday, November 15th at 9:30am
Court of Appeals Building
One West Morgan Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27601

Fake Gluten Free "Bread Man" Guilty; Receives Decade Long Sentence

In 1996, Paul Seelig and his young son set off on a trip to Cleveland, Ohio. At the urging of his 5 year old son, they were on their way to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At some point during the trip, Paul decides to take the scenic route through the Amish country of Ohio. Somewhere near Millersburg, Ohio, they see a sign for a farm/bakery called Risn' Bakeries. Even more intriguing, the company is offering an extensive array of Gluten Free products like bread and bagels, grown and baked right there. Paul and his extended family have a history of digestive diseases and eat wheat free/Gluten Free. Paul pulls in and meets with the owner of Risn' Bakeries, Jonas Jones. After a discussion, Paul and Jonas strike a deal where Risn' Bakeries will supply Paul's company Great Specialty Products with Gluten Free baked goods. Although Paul's company is not currently selling GF goods, he takes a typed letter from Jonas promising those goods at any point in the future and keeps it in his back pocket. Although it is often difficult because Jonas does not have electricity, email, phone, text messages, fax, Facebook, twitter, cell phone, internet or even an address other than SR 77, Paul and Jonas keep in touch over the years. They develop a routine where Paul sends emails and then waits for Jonas to ride in his horse and buggy over to Kinko's where he checks his email. Paul uses the email address risnbakeries@yahoo.com to reach Jonas.

Paul Seelig Trial Recap Coming Soon...

Ok, I definitely have a lot to say about the 2 week, 2 day Paul Seelig (Fraudulent Gluten Free Baker) Trial that concluded this morning.  I attended every day of the trial (except one).  My gag order has been lifted so look for the post very soon.  How's that for a cliff hanger?

In the meantime, here is an article from WRAL and another from the News & Observer (both of whom followed the trial pretty much the entire time).

Additionally, here is the statement I read in court this morning before sentencing from Judge Fox.  My intent was to speak for the victims in the case and for Celiac Disease suffers in general.  Hope I did you all justice.

Fraudulent NC Gluten Free Baker Update - Criminal Trial Begins March 28th

All Gluten Free and Celiac eyes will be on Raleigh very soon as the criminal trial against Paul Seelig, former owner/operator of Great Specialty Products, is scheduled to begin on March 28th, 2011.  If you are not familiar with the situation, please read the following posts for all the juicy details and history.  At a high level, the state of North Carolina has charged Mr. Seelig on at least 25 felony counts of Obtaining Property via False Pretenses arising from his fraudulent sales of fake Gluten Free baked goods to Raleigh area consumers in late 2009/early 2010.  Mr. Seelig has been charged with purchasing regular wheat baked goods and repackaging and reselling those goods as Gluten Free.  He has been jailed (in lieu of $1.5 million bail) on those charges since June 2010 while awaiting trial.

Paul Seelig (Fraudulent Gluten Free Baker) Update

Okay, so I've been away for a little while contemplating the next steps for Gluten Free Raleigh (and taking a rest). The fact that summer is pretty much over has led me to begin to shake the cobwebs off. In addition, I've just returned from the Wake County Courthouse with the latest on the case of Paul Seelig (a.k.a. the fraudulent gluten free baker). Hearing the latest on the case has pulled me out of hibernation so look forward to more frequent posting here. Sorry for the absence. I believe the Gluten Free market in Raleigh is thriving with numerous businesses and more and more Celiacs – there is much more to report from my point of view.

Update: Fraudulent Gluten Free Baker Criminal Case

Earlier today, Paul Seelig had his latest court hearing before Wake County Superior Court in the ongoing criminal case of fraudulently selling Gluten containing bread as Gluten Free.  You can read all the history on this case here.  A quick recap; Durham resident Paul Seelig started a company called Great Specialty Products which sold repackaged regular wheat bread as Gluten Free to dozens of GF consumers in the Triangle.  After numerous complaints, he was investigated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture which shut his business down and brought 9 felony charges of Obtaining Property by False Pretenses.  Testing done by the NCDA found the bread contained > 5,000 PPM Gluten.  A Wake County Grand Jury indicted Seelig on those charges in early April.

It was believed that Seelig would take a plea offered which reduced the 9 felonies to 6 and would halt the bringing of 22 additional felonies against him.  He would also not be ordered to pay restitution to the defendants.  In a shocking development, Seelig in fact turned down the deal and instead pleaded Not Guilty to those 9 counts.  We had been waiting since early May for Seelig to put his affairs together in preparation for pleading guilty but this was apparently just more stalling.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Jason Waller then asked Judge Donald W. Stephens to arraign Seelig on those 9 felony counts.  Judge Stephens encouraged Waller to get to the Grand Jury quickly and then said "Try It... Try It... Try It".  Strong and condemning words from the Wake County Superior Judge indicating this case is going to a trial.  Seelig was immediately placed in the custody of the sheriff deputies and given a $750,000 secured bond.  At this time, Seelig is currently in the Wake County jail awaiting trial.  I guess when you are this crazy, 31 felony counts are better somehow than 6.  Who knows.

Over the next few weeks, the DA will head back to a Grand Jury to indict Seelig on the additional 22 felony counts.  In another shocking development, Waller informed the court that Seelig had offered to supply information about a suspect in an ongoing homicide investigation in exchange for getting his current charges dropped or reduced.  Seelig then turned in a completely innocent man as the suspect in the homicide.  You may have heard of this case - State School Board Member Kathy Taft - who was killed in Raleigh in March.  Of course, another suspect has been arresting in that case.

At this point, nothing should really surprise you about Seelig.  His past, including several federal and state convictions (wire fraud, forfeiture and grand theft property), along with his more recent deceitful actions again the Gluten Free community certainly indicate a long history of poor behavior.

I'll keep you up to date with all the latest as this case proceeds and the additional charges are brought.  You can also read the latest from Andrea Weigl from the News & Observer here.  More from WRAL & NBC17.

Update: NC vs. Great Specialty Products - Gluten Free Fraud Case

I've had several emails asking for the status of North Carolina v.s. Great Specialty Products case... From what I know, the scheduled hearing from last week on 4/8 did not occur and instead the prosecutor took the case to the Wake County Grand Jury on 4/6.  Paul Seelig was indicted on nine felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.  Rather than having a hearing on 4/8 in which witnesses had to be called, the grand jury was used to decide if enough evidence existing to proceed with the criminal case.  The indictment handed down says that the Grand Jury did find enough.

I guess the next steps are up to the District Attorney.  Will there be a trial?  Stay tuned!

Click the gavel at the top right for the latest information.

NC vs. Great Specialty Products Update - Criminal Case Commences

I again visited the Wake County Courthouse this morning to see the latest in the ongoing saga of the state of NC against Paul Seelig/Great Specialty Products.  To see previous posts on this topic, please click here or click the gavel at the top right corner.

The last update on this case back on Feb 2nd detailed the granting of the preliminary injunction which shut down Great Specialty Products until further notice.  At the end of that case, Paul Seelig was arrested on 6 felony counts of Obtaining Property Under False Pretenses (i.e. fraudulently selling gluten bread as gluten free).  This morning's case was the first for the 6 felonies and a summary is provided below.

Paul Seelig was brought in front of the Judge and DA immediately asked the Judge if he could be appointed an attorney from the Public Defenders Office.  He began explaining his case and detailing how was too broke to pay a lawyer to defend him.  The DA then asked for the Judge to put Paul Seelig under oath so that his claims could be documented and he could be held accountable for lying to the court.  Paul Seelig detailed the following items about his finances.

• His brother (who was in court with him) loaned him $3,500 so he could post bail on the $100,000 bond set on Feb 2nd when he was originally arrested.  How does somebody get out of a bond that big for so little?
• He also said he was bailed out of another bond in Durham County which cost him $2,000.  He had already been ruled indignant in that case (writing bad checks) and been appointed a public defender.
• He has not been able to make any money with Great Specialty Products since the Feb 2nd injunction but did deposit $2,000 into the company bank account during January.
• He detailed that he has a $250,000 mortgage on his Durham County home of which he still owes the entire amount.
• He also detailed that he owns a Tahoe worth $15,000 but still owes $17,000 on the vehicle.
• His only assets are the $1495 monthly stipend from Social Security disability.

After hearing all of this, the Judge ruled Paul Seelig indigent and granted his request to be appointed a public defender.  The case was then continued until April 8th @ 9am.  Nice to see this scumbag not only pulling in Social Security money from taxpayers but now we'll also foot the bill for the public defender.  I'm sure folks won't care though as long as he ends up in the slammer.

NOTE: It was also mentioned in court that Paul Seelig has another appointment for a hearing on 3 additional felony Obtaining Property Under False Pretenses counts (grand total of 9).  These also are a result of the original Preliminary Injunction hearing brought against him by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

NC vs. Great Specialty Products Update - Preliminary Injunction Granted

I have just returned from the Wake County Courthouse and will try my best to provide a summary of the nearly 2 and a half hour Preliminary Injunction hearing against Great Specialty Products.  To read the background information on this topic, click here for my original post.  Click here to read the Preliminary Injunction document.

Before the hearing began, Paul Seelig, owner/operator of Great Specialty Products asked the court for a continuance due to his poor health and lack of time to prepare.  His legal counsel resigned from the case late last week and Mr. Seelig claims to be very ill at this time.  Judge Titus denied that request and the hearing began as scheduled.

NC Department of Agriculture Summary
The lawyers representing the NCDA&CS started off the hearing seeking a Preliminary Injunction against Great Specialty Products by sharing a large amount of information as to the investigation conducted and the number of complaints received by the state.  There were a total of 25 complaints received to date against GSP where consumers reported getting sick from the supposed Gluten Free products being sold.  Nine signed affidavits were presented to the court as evidence in the case and 2 live witnesses were heard.  One of the affidavits was submitted by Dr. Anant B. Soni, a internal medicine and Gastroenterology expert who assisted the State with information on Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free diet. The State told the court of Paul Seelig's past troubles with the law and some of the other shady things he has been a part of.  For example, in 2001/2002, Mr. Seelig was indicted in Montana with various counts of crimes ranging from wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, making false claims and making false statements.  He was convicted via plea bargain on several of the charges and served several months in jail.  Evidence was submitted where Mr. Seelig sent extortionary letters to a company involved in this case (Tribecca Oven) asking for money to be paid to him or legal action would be taken.  Mr. Seelig was also shown to have acted under an alias of Jeff or Andrew Gleason and to have claimed various sicknesses in order to delay working with the State's investigation (things like H1N1, quarantined due to staph infection, cancer treatment and even heart attack).  Mr. Seelig did not deny any of this information shared with the court.  He also presented another fictitious letter from a Millersburg, Ohio Amish bakery called Rise'n Bakeries.  This fake bakery was claimed to have been providing Great Specialty Products with Gluten Free baked goods since 1996.  The State's investigation found no record of such company ever existing in Ohio.

The State called two witnesses, one a local consumer who was sickened by the bread and a representative from the NC Department of Agriculture.  Both provided damning evidence against Great Specialty Products which were not refuted by cross-examination by Mr. Seelig.  The details of the thorough and lenghty investigation by the Dept. of Ag were also shared with the court.  The Dept. of Ag. was more than fair in their investigation and attempt to work with GSP.  Constant stall tactics, lies and the uncooperativeness of Mr. Seelig was also shared with the court.  Details about the products being tested by a lab at the University of Nebraska (FDA facility) were also submitted to the court.  All tests showed that Great Speciality Products supposed Gluten Free bread actually contained >5,000 PPM.  The investigation revealed that GSP was buying regular bread products from a company in NJ called Tribecca Oven and repackaging the products as GF.

Great Specialty Products Defense Summary
Paul Seelig had more than a fair opportunity to present evidence is his defense but was unable to do so.  He had numerous chances to cross examine both witnesses and even called his own witness.  His lone witness was a GSP employee who worked at the "repackaging facility".  Paul Seelig asked the witness a few questions and then abruptly stopped after she gave her honest and condemning answers.  Two questions in particular were crucial to the hearing - Mr. Seelig asked his "employee" whether she ever noticed Tribecca Oven products at their facility (a.k.a Paul's house in Durham) when she was preparing Gluten Free bread orders to which she replied "I never really paid attention."  Mr. Seelig also asked her if Great Specialty Products indeed ordered their Gluten Free bread products from a company called Rise'n Bakeries in Millersburg, Ohio to which she replied "I don't know".  Not even his own employee would defend him.  The State's lawyers quickly cross-examined the employee and asked her to read an invoice which details where Great Specialty Products purchased bread from Tribecca Oven.  Case closed basically at that point.

 Preliminary Injunction Granted - Great Specialty Products is Toast (pun intended)

Judge Titus, after hearing all the extended testimony, then ruled in favor of granting the Preliminary Injunction against Great Specialty Products, Paul Seelig/Andrew/Jeff Gleason and any other employees of the company to stop selling food products.  The judge ordered the company's Web site shut down and that the company must work with the NC Department of Agriculture in their ongoing investigation in any way requested.  The judge didn't go as far to shut down the company entirely but did say he was very tempted.  The State's investigation will continue until a time at which a Permanent Injunction can be sought.  At the very end of the Judge's statement, he said to Mr. Seelig that the deputy has a little something for him.  Paul Seelig was then escorted out of the courtroom into a private room where he was placed under arrest for obtaining funds under false pretenses (taking money from consumers for fraudulent GF products).  The picture to the left was taken moments before Mr. Seelig was removed by the deputy.

UPDATE 2/2 @ 8PM
The story was shown by NBC17 during it's evening news tonight.  Click here for the link and video.  During the story, they said that Mr. Seelig collapsed while being taken into custody and was taken to WakeMed for treatment.  From this WRAL story, he was later brought back to the magistrate's office and charged with six misdemeanor felony counts of obtaining property by false pretense.  His bail was set at $100,000 due to his high flight risk.

UPDATE 2/3 @ 8AM

Some of the media outlets are incorrectly reporting that the charges brought forth against Mr. Seelig yesterday were misdemeanors when they are actually felonies.  Paul Seelig will again be in court today @ 2pm.

Click here to read a recap from the News & Observer.  Huge thanks to Andrea Weigl from the N&O for helping me shed light on this important story for our community!  I've also uploaded his mug shot as well.  Beware if you ever see this man.

UPDATE 2/3 @ 2PM
I spoke with someone at the Wake County Courthouse a few minutes ago and they said this hearing has been moved to 2/24/2010 @ 9am.  No courtroom has yet been assigned.

UPDATE 2/4 @ 8AM
As ordered by the Court, the Web site address for Great Specialty Products has been removed.

UPDATE 2/5 @ 9AM
Story picked up by Celiac.com, one of the most read Web sites dealing with Celiac or Gluten Free living.

State of North Carolina: Bread sold as gluten-free wasn't

Just a quick update on this topic from today's News & Observer. If you are not aware, the NC Department of Agriculture has filed a lawsuit against Great Specialty Products for selling/marketing regular bread as Gluten Free.

Click here to read the lawsuit.

If you were poisoned by this company and have not already spoken with the NC Department of Agriculture, please give them a call ASAP @ (919) 733.7366 to have your information added to the case.

You should also contact Anne Brown @ (919) 716.6891 or John Corne @ (919) 716.6869 at the NC Attorney General Office.

UPDATE 4PM 1/21/2010
A 10 day temporary restraining order was issued (and consented to by the defendant) at today's hearing. Another hearing will be held on February 1st during which the NC Dept. of Ag. will be seeking a Preliminary Injunction against the defendant from selling fraudulent Gluten Free products. I think evidence and witnesses may be presented at the next hearing. The case may also be taken to the point where a Permanent Injunction is sought.

Click here to read the TRO document.

What does this all mean?
Basically, at a high level, it means that the state of North Carolina is enforcing Gluten Free product claims/labeling (via fraud) when the FDA won't. It's great to know that our state is actively protecting it's citizenry, especially Celiacs who are often left fighting for themselves at every turn. I've not heard of a previous case of this nature anywhere in the country.

Also, be sure to tune into NBC 17 news tonight at 6pm and 7pm for a story on this topic as well as more from the N&O. You may also be seeing some more from the national Celiac organizations at some point in the near future. I think this case will be held up as a standard across the USA as a warning to con-artists and folks interested in making money at the hands of the hot Gluten Free market. You have been warned.

UPDATE 8AM 1/22/2010
The News & Observer has an update on the situation here.

If you missed the 6pm and 7pm NBC17 news broadcast, the link to that story and video is here.

UPDATE 2PM 1/22/2010
The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) has picked up on the story. Click here for more.

UPDATE 1/25/2010
WRAL picked up on the story, read their article here.

Great Specialty is run out of a house on Cardinal Lake Drive in Durham, said Brian Long, a spokesman for the agriculture department. He said the company didn't bake its own bread but purchased items from bakeries and packaged and sold them under its own label, claiming the products were gluten-free.

Also, the next hearing will be held at 10am on Tuesday, February 2nd 2010 at the Wake County Courthouse in Downtown Raleigh, Courtroom 5B.

UPDATE 1/26/2010
Click here to see the Ingredients statements and here for Product list presented to customers by defendant.

UPDATE 2/1/2010
A new article from the News & Observer discussing the reaction from the Gluten Free community to this case.

UPDATE 2/2/2010
Click here for the recap of the Preliminary Injunction hearing where Great Specialty Products was shut down.

I'll post any updates here as they come in...