On June 30, 2025, the Colorado Attorney General announced a consent judgment—the state’s first industrial hemp enforcement action—against CBDDY and its owner, Christopher Landon Eoff. Originally filed on June 11, 2024, in Weld County District Court, the suit alleged violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, including marketing marijuana as federally legal hemp, forging lab results to misstate THC content, failing to verify customer ages, making unsubstantiated health claims, and operating without required licenses. The July 1, 2025, Final Consent Judgment permanently bars Eoff from Colorado’s cannabis market and imposes a suspended monetary penalty.
The Formal Complaint: Allegations of Deception and Risk
The State of Colorado, through Attorney General Philip J. Weiser, filed a lawsuit in Weld County District Court on June 11, 2024, against Gee Distributors, LCC and Christopher Landon Eoff, who operated as CBDDY.
The Attorney General’s investigation, which began with conduct no later than 2021, uncovered a pattern of deceptive and unfair practices that put consumers at risk. Key allegations detailed in the complaint included:
- Falsely Marketing Marijuana as Industrial Hemp: CBDDY products were advertised as federally legal industrial hemp, claiming to be “100% compliant” with federal law and containing less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC. However, undercover purchases by investigators on February 28, 2023, April 11, 2023, and May 7, 2024, revealed that the products—including CBD distillate, Delta-8 THC distillates, THC-A flower, and THC-A kief—contained significantly higher Delta-9 THC levels, ranging from 2 to 35 times the legal limit for industrial hemp. For example, a CBD distillate contained 26 times more Delta-9 THC than advertised, and some Delta-8 THC distillates tested at over 35 times the limit. These products were, in fact, “marijuana” under federal law, exposing consumers to unexpected intoxication, failed drug tests, and potential legal consequences.
- Forging and Altering Lab Results: Investigators found that CBDDY used forged or altered Certificates of Analysis (COAs) from “Mile High Lab” dated 2022 and 2023 to misrepresent the THC content of their products. This was particularly egregious because “Mile High Lab” had gone out of business in 2021, confirming that any COAs with its name after that date were forged or altered.
- Failure to Implement Age Verification: Until approximately January 2024, CBDDY failed to establish a legitimate age-verification system on its website, occasionally prompting users with a simple click-through age gate that did not require proof of identification. This allowed underage minors to potentially purchase intoxicating products, posing serious risks given the known harms of cannabis use in adolescence.
- Making Unsubstantiated Health Claims: CBDDY drove traffic to its website by making unsupported health claims about its CBD products, such as helping with anxiety, dementia, and concussions, in blog posts published in August 2022 and October 2022. These claims were “unsupported and in fact prohibited under federal law” by the FDA.
- Operating Without Required Licenses/Permits: Defendants sold both industrial hemp and marijuana products through their website without obtaining the necessary licenses or permits from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) or the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED).
- Failure to Provide Proper COAs: CBDDY also failed to include COAs for numerous items sold on its website, including highly potent Delta-8 THC distillates, depriving consumers of critical information about what they were consuming.
The lawsuit sought to permanently bar the defendants from deceptive marketing practices and to impose civil penalties and restitution for their repeated CCPA violations.
The Consent Judgment: A Permanent Bar and Suspended Penalty
On June 30, 2025, Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that a settlement had been reached in the lawsuit. The formal Final Consent Judgment was signed and ordered by the Weld County District Court on July 1, 2025, with Judge Kimberly B. Schutt presiding, following the Attorney General’s signing on June 25, 2025. The settlement aimed to compromise and resolve all disputed claims, avoiding further litigation.
The terms of the settlement imposed significant restrictions on Christopher Landon Eoff and Gee Distributors, LLC:
- Permanent Ban from Colorado Cannabis Market: Eoff and his associated businesses are permanently barred from operating or owning any Colorado-registered cannabis company. They are also enjoined from engaging in the sale or advertisement of cannabis products into Colorado from any other state, soliciting Colorado consumers, or acting as consultants, distributors, or wholesalers of cannabis products to Colorado individuals or companies. This also includes a broad prohibition against engaging in any future act, practice, or business operation in Colorado that violates the CCPA.
- Monetary Penalty and Suspension: A fine of $820,000 was imposed on Christopher Eoff. However, this full amount was suspended due to Eoff filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas on January 30, 2025.
- Conditions for Reinstatement of Fine: The $820,000 fine will become immediately due and payable if it is determined that Eoff misrepresented his financial standing during the bankruptcy proceedings or if he violates any term of the consent judgment. The monetary obligation is specifically designated as a non-dischargeable debt under federal bankruptcy law (11 U.S.C.A § 523(a)(7)).
- Ongoing Enforcement Authority: The settlement does not preclude the Attorney General from enforcing the judgment’s provisions or from pursuing any law enforcement action under the CCPA for acts or practices of the defendants not covered by the initial complaint or any conduct occurring after the judgment’s entry.
- Court Retention of Jurisdiction: The Weld County District Court retains jurisdiction over the matter to ensure compliance and to address any violations of the judgment, with contempt remedies available for non-compliance.
This landmark settlement underscores Colorado’s commitment to protecting consumers and upholding the integrity of its cannabis regulations against deceptive practices.
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