Florida Bride, Caterer Accused Of Drugging Wedding Guests With Marijuana-Laced Menu Items

A Florida bride and her wedding caterer have been accused of drugging wedding guests by lacing the reception food with marijuana without telling anybody, sending multiple guests to the hospital.

Danya Glenny — who is also referred to by her married name of Danya Shea Svoboda — and caterer Joycelyn Montrinice Bryant are each facing charges of culpable negligence, possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver and reckless tampering of a product with risk of injury or death. Investigators responded after a male wedding guest called for medical help, according to an offense report from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office obtained by Oxygen.com.

Seminole County Sheriff’s deputies arrived around 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 at the scene of The Springs Clubhouse in Longwood, Florida to find wedding guests vomiting, complaining of stomach pains and feeling overly high. The guests told authorities they suspected they had unwittingly been drugged after eating the Italian food during the reception.

The catering staff was all in the process of leaving as the police arrived.

When deputies asked the bride and groom, Danya and Andrew Svoboda, whether they had requested or intentionally put cannabis products into the food, Andrew allegedly “stared at me with a blank expression for a few moments before stuttering through a ‘no,’” one law enforcement officer wrote.

One wedding guest later told investigators she had been on her hands and knees vomiting after she started to feel “dizzy and spinning,” after consuming some bread with an olive oil dip, Caesar salad and pasta, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant obtained by Law & Crime. She only drank a glass of champagne and a beer at the reception before she got physically ill.

Another Michigan woman later told law enforcement officers she had traveled to Florida to attend her nephew’s wedding but felt as though she had “no control of her mind and body” after eating the food.

When she and her daughter went into the kitchen to get a glass of water for the family member that was vomiting, she said one of the catering staff told the pair it was “probably the cannabis” that was making her sick, adding that she thought it was common knowledge that there had been drugs in the food, according to the affidavit.

The woman eventually went to the hospital and described feeling “numb” “helpless” and said her “mind was playing strange things in her head.”

She became “very paranoid” and was convinced her husband wasn’t telling her that her son-in-law, who had also been at the wedding, had died. The man did not die and later spoke with authorities.

“She said while she was in the emergency room she became loud and unruly and had to be given something to calm her down,” officers wrote. The woman’s urine test later came back positive for THC.

Another guest — who also later tested positive for THC — told officers he felt “high/stoned” before leaving for the hospital to check on other relatives.

The same man later told authorities after feeling “weird, tingly, fidgety” he went to talk to the best man, who worked for the Department of Justice, but found the man to be “incoherent” and unable to answer a question. He then turned to the groom, who planned to “check what’s going on” but never returned with any answers, according to the affidavit.

One of the bride’s friends also told investigators that she had seen Bryant holding a large punch bowl and “removing a green substance and placing it on small dishes” prior to adding olive oil for the bread dip, according to the court documents.

The woman noticed a strong smell of marijuana and asked the caterer — who she had met previously — if there was marijuana in the food.

“Joycelyn Montrinice Bryant giggled and shook her head yes,” authorities said.

The woman didn’t believe the caterer. She still ate the bread and olive oil dip after smelling it and deciding the green leafy bits were legitimate herbs; she soon “felt stoned.”

She then went onto the dance floor and asked the bridge if she had put marijuana in the food. The bride allegedly said “yes” and acted as if the woman “should be excited as if she was given a gift,” according to the affidavit.

The woman said she felt like her heart wasn’t going to stop, which “terrified” her, and she went out to her car to go to sleep, but not before she “sent a text to herself in case she died in her car so that someone would know what happened to her.”

A drug test later showed there had been marijuana in her system.

Multiple guests, including the bride’s friend, told authorities they wanted to prosecute anyone involved with drugging the food.

At the scene, authorities gathered used wine glasses, chocolate covered strawberries, a handful of lasagna that had been in a tin foil dish used by wedding guests, desserts and a glass plate and bowl with food residue they later sent for testing, according to the offense report. They also collected more food waste that someone purportedly from the catering staff left on a neighbor's yard after fleeing the scene.

The lasagna from the reception and a piece of bread from the trash tested positive for THC, authorities said.

Authorities concluded during the investigation that Glenny “agreed to and allowed Joycelyn Montrinice Bryant to lace the food she served…with cannabis unbeknownst to the attendees, many of whom became very ill and required medical attention,” according the affidavit.

Both women have bonded out of Seminole County Jail and are expected to be arraigned in June, TND reports.