Ghosted: When Distributors Don’t Pay, Humboldt Cannabis Businesses Face Debt and Limited Recourse
The former cannabis distributor “Trusty Transportation” is under fire from multiple growers and businesses across Humboldt County for non-payment issues. Former business partner Daniel McQuiston has filed a lawsuit in Humboldt County Superior Court against Melinda and Randall Cox for contract and quasi-contract claims. This is in addition to a lawsuit discussed in an earlier article, and systemic issues alleged by growers to be caused by a failing legal marketplace and regulatory structure.
Mr. McQuiston would not comment on this story. However, the contract suit names both himself and “Trusty Manufacturing” as plaintiffs. Trusty Manufacturing, while under separate licensing, formerly shared a space in Eureka with Trusty Transportation and operated outwardly as a single business. Trusty Manufacturing formerly produced well known dispensary brands including Cannatrust and B.O.B Stash. Daniel is noted as a current holder of two type 6 (non-volatile solvent) manufacturing licenses, listed under Trusty Manufacturing (also known as Lost Coast Alchemy) and Genesis Manufacturing.
As affected businesses continue to seek answers, legacy growers Gary and LaDonna Haga of The Honeydew Creek Original Family are among those impacted. The Haga’s provided Metrc and financial documents showing Trusty Transportation stopped paying them in August of 2025 with over seventy thousand dollars still owed from previous cannabis pickups.
LaDonna Haga shared text messages exchanged with Trusty in August of 2025, where a representative of Trusty Transportation responded when pressed for payment, “We are awaiting a large check, as soon as it comes I’ll give you a call.” The call never came, “They ghosted us from the day they stopped paying,” remarked LaDonna Haga.
In addition, some of Trusty’s payment methods were odd. One installment payment from 2024 was noted by Gary Haga, “They were two or three weeks late for that payment, which was supposed to be ten grand. And when I stopped by a few days before Christmas, they gave me $4,000 in one dollar bills.” While cash still circulates in cannabis, large installment payments in small denominations are unusual in commercial transactions and can complicate accounting and tax reporting.
Melinda Cox disagreed with the Haga’s and other growers’ viewpoints on non-payments by Trusty Transportation. She wrote over email, “Throughout its final year, Trusty faced significant challenges collecting payments from licensed companies…When a company closes, ownership is responsible for communicating the circumstances of the closure, and Trusty Transportation fulfilled this responsibility. Unfortunately, some individuals have chosen not to accept the facts provided and have instead circulated inaccurate narratives.”
Retailers have been under pressure across the industry in recent years, with multiple CA distributors hiring a credit agency in 2023 to monitor retailers with unpaid invoices. It’s also worth pointing out that Trusty had few notable complaints from their inception in 2015 up until a few years ago.
The Cox’s explanation is disputed by an individual formerly involved with Trusty Transportation, who offered a different account of the company’s retail payment history. While the source confirmed over $200,000 of unpaid retail invoices in 2022, by the end of 2024 that number had allegedly dropped to under $20,000.
Non-payment disputes are not unique to Trusty Transportation. Across California, growers have increasingly reported delayed or missing payments from distributors and retailers amid falling wholesale prices, oversupply, and ongoing enforcement gaps. However, multiple growers allege that Trusty’s conduct may have gone beyond market stress, and prolonged non-payment even as retail receivables allegedly declined.
Recourse has been hard to find for farmers involved. Willow Creek’s H1 Canyon, who filed the initial lawsuit against Trusty Transportation, tried complaining to the DCC (CA Department of Cannabis Control) to no avail.
When asked to comment on this story, DCC Deputy Director of Public Affairs Jordan Traverso offered a written statement. “We recognize that some licensees may have filed complaints with DCC regarding non-payment… Our role as a regulator is distinct from that of the courts, and we must operate within the bounds of our statutory mandate. We remain vigilant in our oversight responsibilities and continue to evaluate ways to strengthen protections for licensees and consumers. We also encourage licensees to utilize appropriate legal channels to resolve disputes that fall outside our purview.”
DCC enforcement frequently focuses not on protecting their licensees, but going after illegal growers, including continuing law enforcement caravans through Humboldt County.
A recent ruling by Judge Lee Gabriel in Orange County Superior Court directly charged the DCC with violating the law, stating that the DCC’s Metrc “track and trace” system fails to follow regulatory requirements. The ruling details the DCC’s failure to accomplish basic tasks like taking illegal products out of legal distribution channels. An internal DCC document quoted in the ruling reads, “System does not currently flag irregularities. Must be done manually by cultivators and licensing authorities.”
Prop. 64 states that California must “Strictly control the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing and sale of nonmedical marijuana through a system of state licensing, regulation, and enforcement.”
Yet the DCC does not control the majority of California’s cannabis marketplace, with 60% of the market estimated to be wholly unregulated. It’s also worth noting that having a DCC license does not keep cannabis growers out of the grey market, with many using licensing for necessary legal protection or selling product to multiple marketplaces. The organization is undergoing significant changes, as former Director Nicole Elliot departed at the beginning of 2026.
Other cannabis entities have been caught in Trusty’s crossfire as well, including Humboldt Seed Company, who are still owed around $50,000. Co-founder and CEO Nathaniel Pennington expressed frustration with the current market situation during an interview. “The top-down approach to cannabis is hurting farmers. Their (Trusty’s) business model worked for years, and there are worse actors than Randy and Melinda out there.”
Moves made since Trusty Transportation’s dissolution have confused impacted growers. Many point to Melinda Cox’s daughter Amber Langlois as being the current holder of Trusty’s former assets, which were allegedly transferred according to the H1 Canyon lawsuit and other growers. While the Cox’s formed the newly licensed “Trusty Partnership” this past August, Langlois has been busy creating new businesses of her own.
In January of 2025 Amber registered the corporation “Ember Glow” with Melinda Cox listed as “Chairperson of Board” and “Director.” Just last month on December 2nd, a corporation called “Moonstone Collective” was registered under Amber’s name, this time with Melinda Cox omitted from the filing, and with an Arcata address listed. Neither of these businesses appear to have any DCC (Department of Cannabis Control) licensing, although the Trusty Partnership microbusiness license is still active. The original Trusty Transportation distribution license is noted as being recently surrendered.
An email was sent to retailers on November 11, 2025 by Amber under the name Ember Lynn, which she has used in prior business communications, “Ember Glow has officially transitioned to Nabis Distribution to better serve our retail partners.” A flyer attached to the email includes a wholesale price list for cannabis brands Cannatrust, B.O.B Stash, Ash + Ember, Buzzed, and Wave Runner. Under Cannatrust is the slogan “mother & daughter owned.”
Previously Amber Langlois was known as an employee of Trusty Transportation, and gave an interview to VoyageLA in February of 2025 where she spoke about Trusty and especially CannaTrust in glowing terms. “We work hard to support our local farmers, ensuring that they get the recognition and compensation they deserve for their hard work…As a women-owned business (Cannatrust) run by my mom and sister, we’re incredibly proud of the legacy we’ve built.”
According to the price sheet, a ½ ounce package of B.O.B Stash SFV OG smalls sell for $10 directly to retailers. An 1/8th of Sunset Sherbet flower sells for $2.75 and Cannatrust’s Illenmonati flower is listed at $29 per ounce, all before a 10% off promo. The minimum order size is only one hundred dollars, down from a previous minimum of $1,500.
While it is unknown where exactly Ember Glow’s current cannabis product is coming from, previous transactions by Trusty Transportation that fed Cannatrust’s supply chain lend some light. Known purchases from 2025 were at $350 per pound, which equates to a per unprocessed ounce price of around $22. When transportation, processing, marketing, and packaging are taken into account, there is minimal to no margin left for a distributor at $29 per ounce if growers are paid. For comparison, the national average for a pound of wholesale cannabis is currently just over $1,000, although other struggling markets like Oregon report sales at $250 per pound.
In response to the information described in this article, Melinda Cox responded, “Ember Glow is not a distributor, and Amber Langlois has never had any involvement with Trusty Transportation or Trusty Partners as an owner, principal, or decision‑maker.”
Yet this is contrary to what Amber stated about her company’s identity over email, where she denied involvement with any debts and compares Ember Glow with other distributors, “Ember Glow is not responsible for, nor involved in, any debts, disputes, liabilities, or legal matters associated with other distribution companies. Any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.”
While Ember Glow does not have direct DCC licensing under its name, many distributors operate as DBAs with a different outward facing business name.
Through marketplace viability issues, a severe lack of regulatory oversight, and emerging lawsuits, Humboldt’s cannabis industry may be hitting new lows. It’s unclear if any real recourse is available for growers and businesses impacted by what growers describe as bad actors within the recreational cannabis marketplace.
Earlier: New Lawsuit in Humboldt County Spotlights Non-Payments By Cannabis Distributors
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Good luck ever getting paid.
Randy and Malinda think they can hide behind Randy’s cousin, Sheriff Honsal
These people are lucky they’re operating in the legal cannabis era. No one would’ve ever heard from them again during the black market days.
Nope. Cash up front, no credit. Don’t pay? Things go south for you.
Didn’t Flow Kama leave the Emerald Triangle With Millions owed to local Cannabis Farmers? Chime in if they got you…
Left the country owing local farmers.
They took a lot of investor money (and everybody’s product) and hinged it on a bet that the Feds would legalize it. They lost. Lots of news about it some of it on RHBB. They had a hundred problems. Some of us have paid attention to this just to see how the markets work out but there were red flags in the beginning. Obviously, not covering your contracts and playing roulette with government is a huge one.
Contracts not honored
Tried to shakedown the county by witholding tax payments
High interest loans to keep going, yet nobody paid either.
$147 million from a whopping 5 investors in Series A and B funding.
Employee started the Broiler Fire that burned 80 acres and 3 homes. That property was the birthplace of Fetzer Wines.
“Mothballed” operations and accusations of mold-infested crop.
““We don’t need to create more cultivation,” he said. “We just need to organize and streamline” getting the product to market.
Gotham Green, private equity firm from NYC was the biggest investor
Plus another $4.6million under ECO Climate
You’d never know they were from the Triangle (now Florida) by looking at their website.
The list goes on.
Seems that the only thing they were good at was securing and spending other people’s money. And lots of it.
Didn’t Kym’s favorite columnist -that kid on Bell Springs- introduce him to everybody in the neighborhood and tell everybody what a great guy he was? Yes.
Four thousand dollars in $1 bills??!
OMG, can’t make that ish up.
I LOVE Humboldt Seed Co’s measured response: “…there are worse actors out there than Randy and Melinda” #FACTS
Melinda is the common denominator here, she’s got no business in the business!
But hey, it ain’t easy funding a custom house build in Freshwater without working all the angles. Trusty AF! 🤣
Punish existing cultivation,
Encourage overproduction,
give the middle men carte blanche…
then wring hands about people reverting to the ol tried & true “Black” market where trust and loyalty matter.
Just make it illegal again already
😎 👍
So people can just grow a few plants in the back yard?
Not in Fortuna.
Still need a permit from the Water Board and you have to pay a fee…to use your own water on your own property. It’s called “Freedom in California” LOL
Do giant breweries or backyard home brewers or vintners have to get a permit from the water company or just pay their bill? At a public meeting, one grower said his ranching neighbor in Ferndale used way more water than the complainant’s cannabis patch but only the bud grower was jumping through hoops on water usage. Bias, double-standards, prejudice and “separate reality fantasies” are killing the California industry.
For personal use? No. But anything commercial, yes. But go here for all your water rights info.
Yeah, if you have a backyard and neighbors don’t harass you or steal it.
Shady weed buyers are still shady even when they have license.
Cash on the barrel.
Yup.
What’s the world come too when you can’t even trust your dope dealer.
That was way more than I needed to know about what seems obvious. Market crashing and people gotta give up there product and get paid later. Just takes one link in the chain to break and everyone below loses. That money is gone. Well at least there’s some small bills for weight.
I’m sorry but not getting cash up front is just not a smart business plan. Can’t get groceries or gas without paying, even if you use a credit card. Ya gotta pay to play. I can’t even with this because it’s just so lame.
It’s pretty common in the larger (sociopathic sewer of a) society which we (somehow willingly, even eagerly) submitted ourselves to: Net 30, 60, 90, 120 day terms is the industry standard. What’s that saying: the outlaw has his word, the businessman his legal team
Yup.
The grocery store doesn’t generally pay cash on receipt to the farmers or distributors they get the food from though. I’m guessing it’s the same with gas, the company that owns the stations likely gets invoiced following delivery of wholesale gasoline.
Cash up front is pretty rare, in my experience, in any wholesale market
“Unfortunately, some individuals have chosen not to accept the facts provided and have instead circulated inaccurate narratives.”
Good lord. I’ve been fed that line before. What it really means is that I’m expected to just take that excuse and hope for the best, and my patience (and bills) are to accept an indeterminate pause. That’s all it is: an excuse. Saying “you haven’t paid us” is NOT an inaccurate narrative. That’s just wishy-washy words strung together.
You might have real issues with payment. So do they. And they came calling.
Geez, I thought Downvote Downer was asleep or something. Sigh. I wish my downvote worked that well. Some people are so lucky.
I know these people. The business failed. It sucks for all involved, but these are good decent people.
You can be a “good person” at the same time, while shifting money from one LLC to another so that nobody can get at what you owe them. That’s shady. Now they’re in court over it, and those things come to the surface during discovery periods.
I actually worked for these people and they are definitely NOT good people, not even decent at best. Melinda and her “daughter-mother owned” business slogan is the farthest thing from what that business actually was…you would know if you worked for them.
I know the Haga Family as well from years ago and feel very badly about this. Do alcohol and tobacco producers have to “front” booze and tobacco for zero money to retail outlets and not get paid until retail sale or do stores have to buy stock and hope it sells? California screwed the pooch on legal weed. Many of us tried to explain to the roving panel that excessive regulations and forced “distributors” would be disastrous and that is what happened. Nope, could not do it. It is shameful how California destroyed the industry. The bureaucracy just could not or would not get over the “devil’s lettuce” fantasy. The alcohol or tobacco model just would not do, so here we are. As illegal growers learned the hard way: always get the money first. Then hand over product. No legal way to enforce payment if you get stiffed. Apparently no way now either. Where did all that herbage go? Somebody bought it, right? Where is the money, any money?
Just the name “trusty transportation” might have been a big red flag for me.
But 4k in one dollar bills, that’s like a giant FU.
Anyone remember the good ‘ol days, when no one would dream of fronting anything?
That’s what people do to the IRS when they’re pissed off at them: pay their taxes in nickels or sticky quarters or something just to be difficult. And no, you didn’t front anything years ago, or very infrequently. You left as little a trail back to you as possible.
Everybody who tried it that I knew got screwed. I was screwed by trusted friends who were so in love they quickly sold the quality kilo for good money and spent it on themselves and, guess what, a BIG COAT HANGER and told me that They spent the money because “you know how YOU are with money” and they would pay me back. Seriously.
A lot of the big distributors banked on small farmers going out of business. The distribution requirement should be abolished. Why keep a middleman they were shit before legalization and even worse after. When a farmer could sell directly to a dispensary they get a fair deal. Even better, the small‑scale market needs direct‑to‑consumer options face‑to‑face sales, a website option, and delivering the product yourself or through a co‑op. No more bullshit.
I think that follows what came out of the 21st Amendment that abolished prohibition. States couldn’t discriminate against interstate distribution. It’s intended to keep a producer from monopolising a market from the distiller to the store shelf, so the three-tier system is used. Not that there’s any shortage of people trying to circumvent it. It does allow for, like in weed, a new niche business that can be made in just distribution, or even storage, yet have zero to do with the rest of it. But early on, there were a lot of would-be growers that on Day 1 tried to get all three of whatever licences were around, and even had friends or family form LLCs so that on paper, looked like separate entities, yet it was really the same people running the business.
Yeah, well, you pay for it, then you can distribute at a profit. I seem to have a memory of vodka from Forttuna(?) that could be mail-ordered or bought at Costco. Am I confused? It happens.
“I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”
It’s much easier to profit when you don’t pay for the product you sell.
Bingo! The product is gone and so is the money. Doh!
Randy and Malinda think they can hide behind their cousin Sheriff Honsal
First law in Cannaland…NO FRONTS EVER.
No cash, no product…sorry.
Don’t care if ya got a bridge in Brooklyn or if your cousin’s step grandma’s ex husband once dated the Duke of Earl.
No money NO HONEY OIL.
They stiffed me for $43k…… the name is beyond ironic….
Who in their right mind would think there would be scammers in the marijuana business? What has the world come to?