Once King Kronic, Auckland millionaire Matthew Biuwe Wielenga is now prisoner number 11164-510.
The Auckland businessman, husband and father of two has been sentenced to 51 months in prison in the United States.
And he went to prison with a stirring account of his failings and the damage they had done.
“I still can’t believe how stupid I have been to risk everything that I worked so hard to create.”
It comes after he pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances - in this case, a plan to import to the US a synthetic cannabis product similar to that which earned him millions of dollars during the heydey of New Zealand’s “legal high” period.
The plea deal also saw Wielenga forfeit the $7.7 million earned from the drug deal.
Wielenga has been in prison for two years awaiting sentence after plans to import the synthetic cannabinoid 5f-cumyl-pinaca to a person in California, Joseph A Girouard.
The court documents state the date of offending began in April 2019 - the month the US Drug Enforcement Agency put in place a ban on the synthetic cannabis substance as an “imminent hazard to the public safety”.
The case then detailed six occasions from 2019 to 2021 on which Wielenga sent about 177kg of synthetic cannabis product to the United States. It also said the Wielenga had planned the delivery of another 170kg of synthetic cannabis.
The drug was to be manufactured to be used in vapes, court documents said.
Wielenga’s sentence came after he told the US District Court of Southern California how his decision to import the drug had caused enormous damage to those around him, particularly his wife Sassetta Andrew and their two children.
Wielenga told the judge he knew “that my own choices are the reason my family and I are in this situation”.
“I take full responsibility for that. My wife Sassetta has been amazing through this journey, her loyalty, love and commitment has been second to none.”
He said: “She didn’t ask for any of this and has paid a heavy price by losing two consecutive jobs as a direct result of the two media articles published about me and my actions in America.”
As a result of his actions, he said “her professional career development opportunities are ruined because of me”.
“I have a lot of making up to do when I get home and I am committed to putting in the work, like going to a marriage counsellor, to make sure our marriage foundations are rock solid for the future and for our boys.
“I am the luckiest man in the world to have Sassetta standing by my side, her love is like a shield that makes me feel protected and together I know we can achieve anything.”
Wielenga said his sons were “so precious to me” and two years of separation from them “has been a lot to digest”.
“As a father, I am supposed (to) provide love and protection and I can’t even provide that basic function for my boys and for that I feel like a complete failure.
“My time away has made me cherish the moments I did have and resolute in my commitment to being the best father I can be when I get home, teaching them everything I know, making space for quality time and helping them become well-adjusted young men.”
He said he had grown up without a father and the thought of history repairing was “my worst nightmare come true”.
Wielenga told the judge of his close relationship with his mother as an only child raised by a single parent.
“I feel like a real disappointment getting arrested and being locked up in America and I will have to live with that.”
He said he had learned recently his mother was terminally ill with a prognosis of a year to live. As a result of his offending, he said he lost sleep “worrying that I may never get to see her again”.
Wielenga said the damage caused to those around him extended to his business life having been forced to sell the titanium printing company Zenith Tecnica he started a decade ago.
He said public knowledge of his arrest and charges put “massive strain” on those working at the company and created “a very difficult situation” as the information had to be disclosed to customers. Doing so, he said, “put our commercial supply agreements into question”.
“My actions have let down my team and tarnished the integrity and goodwill we worked so hard to build up with our customers and suppliers.”
Wielenga spoke of how he would have to fight to retain his helicopter pilot’s licence on return to New Zealand - a part of his life he was hoping to share with his children.
“This all drives home the magnitude of the repercussions from the choices I have made. I was reckless, foolish and naive.
“The consequences have rippled through everyone around me, the ones I love and the ones I work with. It’s going to take time but I am committed to rebuilding and repairing all of these relationships so I can continue to be a useful, positive contributor to my family and to society.”
Wielenga’s court file showed he had spent time working in the prison kitchens and shop while awaiting sentence.
It also included certificates for courses he had taken while in prison. Those included business-focused courses on developing workplace culture and building great customer service teams, along with business communications and strategic planning.
Wielenga was one of the biggest names in New Zealand’s legal high industry which went from boom to bust over a decade, with community safety concerns over the products leading to a ban in 2014.
Wielenga’s company marketed pre-rolled Kronic joints which was believed to have led to the product’s huge rise in popularity and the subsequent clampdown.
As Mr Kronic, Wielenga’s Lightyears Ahead was reported to be turning over $700,000 a month selling the controversial product.
The exact size of Wielenga’s fortune is not known but public records show trusts and companies with which he is associated own eight properties worth around $40m on public valuations. The property portfolio included a North Shore beach house valued around $18m.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
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