Sunflower CEO Michael Gilliland, accused of going after young sprouts, is our Shmuck

Sunflower Farmers Market founder and CEO Michael Gilliland was always a "big-picture guy," says the man who replaced him this week at the Boulder-based company. But according to the Arizona law enforcement officers who took Gilliland into custody on February 10, he isn't much of a big-girl kind of guy...

By Jonathan Shikes

February 18, 2011

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Sunflower Farmers Market founder and CEO Michael Gilliland was always a "big-picture guy," says the man who replaced him this week at the Boulder-based company.

But according to the Arizona law enforcement officers who took Gilliland into custody on February 10, he isn't much of a big-girl kind of guy.

Gilliland, 52, was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department and has been accused of offering $100 to have sex with a seventeen-year-old girl, a felony. The arrest was part of a sting conducted by undercover officers over the Internet, according to news reports.

Gilliland resigned from his post shortly afterward, and Sunflower COO Chris Sherrell has taken over. On February 17, he told the Boulder Daily Camera that operations at the well-known natural foods grocery chain would continue as normal. He also said Gilliland had been the "big-picture" visionary there, while Sherrell has been the day-to-day operator.

And hopefully a smoother operator than Gilliland, who will be arraigned next week.

Read about our other Shmucks here.

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