How a New Jersey Grower Lost Its License in 2026

In 2026, New Jersey's cannabis regulators took every license away from one of the state's licensed growers. The company, Mollitiam NJ, had grown cannabis on a farm the state never approved. This is how it unfolded, based on the state's own records.

On July 16, New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory Commission voted 4–0 to revoke every license held by Mollitiam NJ LLC, a cultivator and manufacturer working out of a former Mack Trucks building on West Front Street in Plainfield. The commission's acting executive director told the board the company had "deceived everyone along the way" and was "a really bad actor." [CRC minutes, Jul 16, 2026]

According to the commission, Mollitiam grew cannabis outdoors on farmland in Sussex County that the state had never licensed, trucked the harvest to its licensed indoor facility, and processed, packaged and sold it as if it had been grown there. [CRC Resolution 2026-02-12-15]

A farm the town approved and the state never did

In April 2025 the Andover Township Land Use Board heard an application from the landowner, Scotto Land Investments, to turn part of a roughly 210-acre farm at 81–83 Brighton Road into an "outdoor cannabis cultivation farm." The plan showed seven fenced fields totaling about 100 acres, capped at 2,500 plants per acre under the township's ordinance, with guard booths and cameras. [Andover Land Use Board minutes, Apr 1, 2025]

Ross Bevevino testified at that meeting as the cultivator. According to the minutes, he told the board the company already held a New Jersey cultivation license, ran an indoor facility in Plainfield and was "in good standing with the CRC." He described every plant being tagged and scanned into the state tracking system and harvested cannabis going straight onto refrigerated trucks bound for Plainfield. He also said it would be "the first sun grown organic crop grown in the State." [Andover LUB minutes]

The township approved the plan and collected $13,473 in taxes tied to the operation, NJ.com reported. The state never approved the site: according to NJ.com, Mollitiam's request to the CRC was still pending and unreviewed, and the farm operated for at least eight months before regulators learned of it. Bevevino declined to comment to NJ.com. [NJ.com, Jun 18, 2026]

New Jersey law requires a separate license for every location where a cannabis business operates, and a cultivator may grow only on the premises its license names. The commission's February resolution cites both rules, along with the provision limiting a license holder to one Class 1 cultivator license. [CRC Resolution 2026-02-12-15]

How it came out

On February 3, 2026, CRC compliance officers made what the commission called a routine site inspection of Mollitiam's Plainfield premises. Most press accounts say a tip came in during that visit. The commission's own account is more specific. Acting Executive Director Chris Riggs told the board that the compliance team "was advised by an owner that Mollitiam had been conducting an outdoor grow at an unapproved and unlicensed location in the state." [CRC minutes, Feb 12, 2026]

The commission froze Mollitiam's product that same day. It put an administrative hold on select packages in Metrc, the state's seed-to-sale tracking system, expanded the hold on February 5, and on February 6 lifted it for every manufactured product except flower. [CRC slides, Feb 12, 2026] Lawyers at Mandelbaum Barrett warned clients that the hold reached manufacturers, distributors and dispensaries statewide. [Mandelbaum Barrett, Feb 6, 2026]

On February 10 the CRC issued a Notice of Violation (INV-13-26) citing 19 statutory and regulatory violations. On top of the unlicensed grow and moving the flower, it listed: storing cannabis in an unsecured area, badge and access-control failures, not notifying the commission of changes to the license, insecure transport, improper storage and disposal of expired product, not using the state's tracking system and not keeping inventories current. [CRC Resolution 2026-02-12-15]

Where the weed went

The outdoor flower did not stay in Plainfield. Riggs told the board it was sold through Metrc to other licensed businesses, which "used it for manufacturing purposes, mostly to create THC distillate." In his words, "everyone along the way, including the CRC and these businesses, was deceived by this one business, this one bad actor." [CRC minutes, Feb 12, 2026]

That is why the hold rippled so far. Heady NJ reported that 40 to 50 brands had used Mollitiam biomass for vape oil and other infused products, a figure that came from industry sources rather than the commission. [Heady NJ, Feb 6, 2026]

Mollitiam's own brand was small by comparison. In Lit Alerts' New Jersey brand data for January 1 through September 21, 2026, Jersey Strong shows about 2,336 units and roughly $81,800 in estimated sales. That ranks it 323rd of 804 brands, at less than one hundredth of one percent of the roughly $971 million the data set tracks. These are estimates built from menu sampling, not point-of-sale records. [Lit Alerts NJ brand analytics, Jan 1–Sep 21, 2026]

The commission was careful to separate the violations from the product itself. Asked directly whether there was a public health risk, Riggs said no. Every downstream product had passed lab testing and carried a certificate of analysis, and "everything that is not on administrative hold that is out and able to be purchased by a consumer is safe." [CRC minutes, Feb 12, 2026]

Suspension, then revocation

On February 12 the board summarily suspended both licenses "pending further Board action," on the ground that letting Mollitiam keep operating during the investigation was an immediate threat to public safety. Commissioner Amelia Mapp recused herself, citing a personal relationship. The vote was 3–0. [CRC Resolution 2026-02-12-15]

The resolution listed the factors behind the penalty. Mollitiam ran the grow "despite having full knowledge" that the commission had not approved it, and it made "efforts to disguise" the outdoor flower by moving it through its licensed site. Then-Chair Dianna Houenou called the conduct egregious and said it "will not go unchecked." [CRC minutes, Feb 12, 2026]

Five months later a reshaped board took up the case again. On July 16, Director Dave Tuason presented INV-13-2026, and Riggs recommended revoking Mollitiam's cultivation and manufacturing licenses: "They no longer can be in this market." Chair Harris Laufer moved to revoke all of the company's licenses and Vice Chair Ferraro seconded. The motion passed 4–0, with Commissioners Kennedy and Nash also voting yes and Mapp again recused, this time citing an ongoing professional relationship. [CRC minutes, Jul 16, 2026] The meeting slides describe the case as illegal outdoor cultivation, transporting untagged marijuana, storing and processing product that unauthorized people could reach, and failing to correct the violations. [CRC slides, Jul 16, 2026]

Who was behind it

Ross Bevevino of Basking Ridge received the award letter for Mollitiam's cultivation license, according to NJ.com and Heady NJ. [NJ.com] Heady NJ also named Steve Silva as co-founder and president and Jeff Gonyo as head of marketing and sales. Unnamed sources told Heady NJ that the company blamed tagging problems with a large outdoor batch and "billionaire investors," and that its employees had been laid off. [Heady NJ, Feb 6, 2026] New York 420 Week could not independently confirm those accounts. The CRC's documents do not name Mollitiam's owners, and they do not explain Commissioner Mapp's relationship to the company.

No criminal charges have been reported. The CRC's rules allow it to refer violations to state or local law enforcement. NJ.com reported that the Attorney General's office would not confirm whether it was investigating. [NJ.com, Jun 18, 2026] The suspension resolution gave Mollitiam 48 hours to request an administrative hearing. We found no public record of a hearing, an appeal or a lawsuit.

Why it matters

Most CRC enforcement ends in a fine. In October 2025, for example, the commission fined a licensee called Greater Purpose $2,500. [CRC Resolution 2025-10-01-21] Revocation is the heaviest penalty the commission has. We could not find an earlier case of the CRC revoking an operating cultivator's license, but the commission has not said whether this was the first, so treat it as unconfirmed.

It also didn't happen in isolation. The same July 16 agenda carried enforcement actions against Curaleaf NJ, over stability testing on at least 106,514 units packaged with 12-month expiration dates, and against Prolific Growhouse, GSCC Management, Brute's Roots and Hashery. [CRC slides, Jul 16, 2026]

For other operators, the notable part of this case is how well the product fit inside the system. The plants were tagged and the product was tested. It moved through Metrc, landed in other companies' distillate and reached shelves across the state, and none of the checks built into a tracked, tested market caught it. What caught it was someone at the company telling an inspector. The commission's answer so far has been a direct appeal to the industry: "Know who you're doing business with… If you see something, say something." [CRC minutes, Feb 12, 2026]

What we couldn't confirm: how many plants were actually grown or how much flower Mollitiam moved; whether the CRC referred the case to law enforcement; whether Mollitiam contested the suspension or revocation; the ownership details reported by Heady NJ; and whether this is the CRC's first cultivator revocation. The July 16 meeting page posts slides and minutes but no standalone revocation order. Corrections and documents are welcome: hello@newyork420week.com.