Tying the Knot With Pot

Jeffrey Belmonte feasted on meatballs, Caesar salad and bread with herb dip at his wife’s cousin’s wedding in Longwood, FL--  and then felt strange, tingly and fidgety. His sister-in-law also became dizzy and found herself on her hands and knees, vomiting up her dinner.

Miranda Cady, who knew the bride through friends, ate the bread and olive oil, too. She later felt like her heart was going to stop. She went to her car and was so terrified she would die there, she sent herself a text so people would know what had happened to her.

Those stories of being stoned were later confirmed when they and many other wedding guests tested positive for marijuana.  None of the guests interviewed said they knew there would be marijuana in the food.  Now, Danya Svoboda and the wedding caterer, Joycelyn Bryant, have been charged with food tampering and the delivery of marijuana, both felonies. In Florida, medical marijuana is legal, but recreational use remains prohibited.

Douglas Postma, the groom’s uncle, told police he hadn’t used marijuana for many years until he ate the wedding food, according to an arrest affidavit. His heart started racing, and he started having “crazy thoughts,” the affidavit states.  Postma texted his nephew to ask what was happening. Andrew Svoboda replied that he didn’t know and would look into it — a statement he would echo to other guests. Postma’s wife, Nancy, later went to an emergency room and became paranoid, loud and unruly, believing that one of her family members had died.

Earlier, while still at the reception, Nancy Postma and Belmonte, her daughter, went into the kitchen, looking for water and explaining they were feeling unwell.  One of the staff members told them, “Well, there’s cannabis in the food.”

Cady remembered seeing a caterer put green herbs along with pepper in the small dishes containing olive oil.   After she ate the bread and olive oil dip, she felt stoned. She then asked Bryant whether there was marijuana in the food. Bryant “giggled and shook her head yes.”  Going out to the dance floor, Cady found the bride, Danya Svoboda, and asked whether she had put cannabis in the olive oil.  Svoboda said “yes,” smiling and acting as though she had given Cady a “gift.”

Rachel Penn, a neighbor of the newlyweds, told deputies that after she ate the olive oil, she felt “weird” and “buzzed.” Around 9 p.m., the reception ended when Seminole County Fire Rescue and sheriff’s deputies showed up.  Sitting in a hospital, Penn texted the bride and asked what she had consumed at the wedding. Svoboda  texted back: “Uggg, we have no idea, let us know if you need help with anything.”