Last time we looked in on Sam Girod was in July 2017, as he was being sentenced to six years in federal prison following conviction by a jury of violating drug labeling and other rules in connection with a commonly available skin salve.
It was in some bizarre way a good-news/bad-news situation. The good news was that he received a six-year sentence on counts that could have put him behind bars for 48 years…..at age 56. The bad news was that he was even convicted and that he was going to jail for crimes that had no known victims, for longer than many serious violent offenders. (There was also three years probation and a requirement that he repay his “victims” $14,000, even if no one knew who they were.)
Last week, it was nearly all good news for Girod, who spoke to me from his farmhouse in Owingsville, Kentucky. Yes, he was wearing a leg monitor and still technically a prisoner, possibly for as much as two more years. But he was home, “surrounded by family.”
For him, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a blessing, as it has been for hundreds of nonviolent offenders well into their sentences, who were released early to avoid getting sick. Not surprisingly, the pandemic has been used as an excuse to also release the politically well connected, like Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen and ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Girod told me he was released to home confinement as an elderly offender (he’s now 60). He filed a request for compassionate release two months previously, which was denied, and which he now has on appeal. If that were granted, he’d be a completely free man. Sally O’Boyle, a food rights advocate, visited with Girod yesterday and reported on Facebook that he looked fit at 6’2” and hadn’t had to cut his hair or beard (he is Amish).
When I last wrote about Girod in that post about his sentencing in 2017, I took him to task for serving as his own lawyer, and in effect ensuring his conviction. He now agrees that going to trial without a lawyer was a mistake. “My mind was in huge turmoil,” he recalls of his trial in the spring of 2017. “I went against an attorney. I fought that. If I had it to do over, I probably would have hired a team of attorneys.”
Had he done that, there’s a good chance he would have been acquitted, and the FDA set back on its heels for going after an Amish farmer not doing anything more wrong than dozens of other salve makers selling their wares on Amazon and other places on the Internet.
Will he go back into that business again? He’s not committing, which isn’t surprising given his recent personal history. There are a lot of family financial issues to straighten away now that he’s home. In the meantime, he’s just enjoying getting reacquainted with his farm and family.
For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that – first and last – Sam Girod’s concern is = healing. So, logically, were he to come upon a product which is superior to what he was compounding, he’d go with the better one. The product described below is sold perfectly legally in North America. It’s expensive. And it works. If I were him, I’d buy this stuff in quantity, then retail it locally. Every single person so cured would vindicate him. Even Harry Hoxsey’s enemies came to him for his cure
The large volume of Dr Cham’s clinical work of 25 years, explaining how he got to this stage, is available for about $50. Worth it for those who want the scientific proof
This URL has the details of one of the remedies for – curing, yes “curing – skin cancer.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Curaderm-Bec5-Topical-Cream-0-67-Oz/339884582
this URL has anecdotal reviews of the efficacy of the salve
https://www.amazon.ca/Eggplant-Cancer-Cure-Treatment-Pharmacy/dp/1890572217#customerReviews
Curaderm BEC5 Cream contains the active ingredient, Solasodine Glycosides, derived from eggplant and a less well-known plant from Australasia, the Devil’s Apple. After two decades of research, biochemist Dr. Bill Cham discovered that the natural Curaderm BEC5 Cream works by stripping away a sugar called Rhamnose which is not found in healthy cells. Then the immune system induces apoptosis and removes the unhealthy cell. Curaderm BEC5 has been proven to be effective on keratosis (sun spots) and even age spots, often removing them within days. BEC5 Curaderm is a non-toxic product as it has the same active ingredients found in eggplant, eaten regularly by people everywhere.
• Curaderm BEC5 Topical Cream – 20 ml
o 20 ml tube (lasts approximately 2-3 months)
o The original product developed in Australia by Biochemist, Dr. Bill E. Cham, Ph.D
o Includes a free book on Curaderm by Dr. Bill Cham and one 3M Micropore tape (1 inch x 10 yard)
o Fast, effective results. Uses natural plant extracts.
o Contains the active ingredient, Solasodine Glycosides
o Strips away Rhamnose to promote cell health and growth
o Effective on keratosis (sun spots) and even age spots, often removing them within days.
o BEC5 Curaderm is a non-toxic
Suggested use: Clean the area concerned with a mild antiseptic then dry and apply the BEC5 thickly over the area. Apply Curaderm BEC5 at least twice daily and cover the area with a micro-pore tape. Curaderm BEC5 should be stored below 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius).
• Note: BEC5 should not be used on moles. Minimum use: seven days. Maximum use: three months. Avoid contact with your eyes. Do not use internally.
Indications:
Skin Care Concern: Dark Spots; Sun Spots; Hyperpigmentation; Premature Aging; Skin discoloration
Directions:
Instructions: Clean the area concerned with a mild antiseptic then dry and apply the BEC5 thickly over the area. Apply Curaderm BEC5 at least twice daily and cover the area with a micro-pore tape. Curaderm BEC5 should be stored below 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius).
Yes, so bittersweet! Thank you for all your writing and bringing attention. I so appreciate you, David. It is so so good to have Sam home!!!!
Thank you, Sally.
Good to now know this farmer is home.
Thanks so much for sharing this addition to a story that has wrung our hearts.
Crtical to know the ways of the English.
It’s heartbreaking that Sam Girod had to spend even one day in jail. There was no justice done there. However, it’s wonderful to know that he is back home. Thank you for sharing this happy news, David!
I’ve known the Amish community here in OK for over ten years. I can tell you they don’t expect the ‘English’ as they call everyone outside of their community, to be always straight with them and Sam Girod’s bitter experience will have been tempered by his community’s lowish expectation of all things un-Amish.
I trust now his future life will stay sweet and the powers that be will leave him alone.
We begged him repeatedly to use a lawyer and there were several that volunteered pro-bono, including an attorney who worked for IJ! Plus the court appointed him an attorney who was awesome. Sam almost always considered it and then his distrust of the English got the better of him. It was heartbreaking to watch.
did you miss the part of the report in which Mr Girod is quoted saying that he ‘now feels he ought to have obtained a lawyer at the outset of the trouble’ ? There’s the lesson for Amish-volk. They want to operate in their little island of quaint anachronism, yet they like to participate in the world beyond the Pale, too, when it’s profitable … handling the fiat currency of “The English” which is predicated in Usury. Double-minded men are unstable in all their ways
perhaps tell this forum what you’ve learned over a decade, about the Amish relationship with the Internal Revenue Service vis a vis personal income tax?
I hope they don’t pay it and are excused from it. As Ron Paul says, “It’s a start.”