The owners of Mindleaf CBD, a hemp store just one block away from Lafayette College, were charged on Aug. 27 for selling illegal marijuana and possessing other illicit products.
According to a news release by the Northampton County’s district attorney office, the Easton and Forks Township Police Departments, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Northampton County Drug Task Force conducted a search on July 31 at both Mindleaf CBD and the home of two of the store’s owners.
The day prior to the search, an undercover officer purchased a substance labeled “Mindleaf Premium Hemp Flower” from the store. Later state testing determined that this substance was illegal marijuana.
At the Forks Township, Pennsylvania, residence of Mindleaf owners David and Susanne Allocca, officers discovered 57 pounds of marijuana, over 2,000 THC vapes and cartridges, 1,500 containers of THC edibles, 30 containers of THC resin, two pounds of psychedelic mushrooms, 258 pre-rolled joints and 73 jars of marijuana, according to an affidavit.
The news release also states that a handgun, shotgun and AR-15 rifle were recovered from the Allocca residence.
All of the seized drugs were tested at the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic Laboratory and found to contain THC, marijuana and psilocin. The Northampton County’s district attorney office declined to provide additional comment beyond the news release.
The Alloccas’ attorney, Gary Asteak, could not be reached for comment. According to WFMZ, Asteak said that products were bought from growers outside of Pennsylvania and they came with paperwork saying they were certified as legal in Pennsylvania.
Employee Dawn Williams is also facing possession charges.
On its business Instagram account, an unknown representative of Mindleaf has claimed the store is not at fault.
An Aug. 28 post uploaded to Mindleaf’s Instagram claimed that the products seized from the Allocca residence were not related and “have NEVER been in contact” with the College Hill store. The post also argued the substance purchased by the undercover officer was not marijuana, but the legal hemp product advertised on the label.
Additionally, the post writes that the raid on the storefront was brought on by “irresponsible decision making” on the part of one of the Mindleaf owners.
“I’m not really sure where his head was at with his decision-making, but we did not know anything about what he had going on there,” an individual with close ties to the business said of David Allocca. The individual, who was told by their attorney to remain anonymous, said that other workers and owners at the store did not know of any of the stored products at the Allocca residence.
“We found out all the ins and outs of everything that was taken from their residence as the news also came out,” the individual said. “That wasn’t something that we were totally privy to and we were surprised and it’s sad for us.”
They also said that conversations regarding buyouts of the company had been in progress before the investigation.
“Now, this throws a wrench in all of that,” the individual said. “So I’m not really sure what the future of Mindleaf holds.”
Lafayette College is not involved in the ongoing investigation, though some of its students are customers at Mindleaf.
One anonymous student, who purchased edibles from Mindleaf on multiple occasions, said they had “no idea” of what was true or not regarding the investigation. The student said they “only ever bought anything that’s on display,” items they believed to be legal.
“A huge chunk of our customer base is students, and we care about you guys,” the individual with close ties to Mindleaf said of Lafayette students.
Another anonymous student questioned the need to target a store that aims to sell legal THC.
“I think Mindleaf is a good, safe, reliable source for students to get stuff without worrying about their safety,” the student said.
This student was also unsure about the allegations against Mindleaf.
A third student, who had previously worked at Mindleaf as a social media manager, claimed that the “full story isn’t being told.” This student also wished to remain anonymous.
“I tried to educate myself more on [the charges], but I wasn’t able to find the information I thought I was going to, which I think says a lot,” the student said, expressing a desire for law enforcement to “look further into it.”
The college currently has no publicly posted policy on its investigative approach to legal versus illegal cannabis products.
In an email from April, Public Safety Director Jeff Troxell wrote that “with any cases involving CBD Hemp Deprived <0.3% THC products we would ask for proof or evidence in the form of a receipt.”
According to resident advisor Jonathan Moya ’25, the importance of keeping Mindleaf receipts was something mentioned in resident advisor training.
“I think what I understood was that, yes, technically, you’ll be fine with the receipt,” Moya said. “But then they said you shouldn’t be going there anyway.”
Austin Haytko, Lafayette’s director of student conduct, confirmed that this subject, while not an official college policy, is an important “FYI” that frequently comes up in resident advisor training.
“If students are going to engage in this, they need to be prepared to say ‘I purchased this legally,'” Haytko said. “It’s a good idea to have evidence. Any information is good information.”
According to Haytko, such evidence is especially valuable in situations where the cannabis product has already been used.
“Once it’s burned, there’s no way to tell it apart from marijuana,” Haytko said, emphasizing that the testing available returns what is practically a yes or no answer. “Any test conducted on it will likely test positive for THC.”
“We don’t have a range to tell if it’s legal hemp,” he continued.
When asked if the allegations against Mindleaf have cast doubt on the efficacy of the receipt review process, Troxell wrote in an email that “every case is unique.”
Mindleaf purchases its products from accredited farms, according to the individual with close ties to Mindleaf.
“We have licenses, we have COAs, we have a lot of stuff to keep us on the straight and narrow,” the individual said. “Because we do know that this is kind of a controversial business.”
The Alloccas are facing charges of three counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, three counts of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, three counts of drug paraphernalia, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, one count of sale and possession of a controlled substance misbranded and one count of misbranding a controlled substance.
Williams is being charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, two counts of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, one count of delivery of a controlled substance, one count of sale and possession of a controlled substance misbranded and one count of misbranding a controlled substance.
Elisabeth Seidel ’26 contributed reporting.
