A photo of cannabis plants a business partner says was taken inside the Market Wave growing facility at 15 Leonard Street farm in December. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
When an indoor cannabis farm in Red Bank shut down this winter just months after startup, owner Alexander Federico blamed the failure on electrical grid problems that he said caused the initial harvest to fail.
But now, three of his partners in the business say Federico was, well, blowing smoke.
That first cannabis crop never made it to market because they say Federico threw the product – up to 600 pounds of weed worth between $500,000 and $3 million – in a dumpster bound for a local landfill.
In interviews with redbankgreen and written complaints filed with the Red Bank Police Department and NJ State Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the business partners say the improper disposal was part of an attempt to seize control of the business and shut them out of the operation.
One business partner also says Federico ran up fraudulent charges on his credit card, and that he and property owner William Duckworth physically locked him out of the 15 Leonard Street facility by placing concrete barriers at the gate even though he still had thousands of dollars of equipment inside.
The view from the sidewalk last week at the Market Wave cannabis cultivation facility at 15 Leonard Street. (photo by Brian Donohue)
Vito Ameno, who said he invested $100,000 in the venture Market Wave LLC, told redbankgreen the electricity issues Federico blamed on Jersey Central Power and Light had all been fixed by December.
“These are straight lies,’ said Ameno, owner of a cannabis product brand Farm to Flame. “This is outlandish, outrageous, every word you could imagine. It’s really wild with all the fuckery.”
Amid the allegations, a spokesman for the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission said Market Wave LLC no longer has a wholesale cultivator license required to operate in the state. The license had been up for renewal in July. The CRC provided no other details and did not specify if the license was terminated, transferred or voluntarily relinquished.
Federico did not reply to multiple text messages and voicemails seeking comment.
Approached by a reporter in the driveway of his Lincroft home, he declined to comment and said redbankgreen‘s previous story had “sunk” his business. He promised to send a reporter the name of his attorney to comment, but did not follow up.
In a March interview outside the facility, Federico (pictured at right during a 2023 planning board hearing) blamed Market Waves’s woes on a lack of electrical power needed to operate the grow lights and ventilation systems. He called it a “nightmare” that had caused the operation to go “belly up on the finances.”
“Due to our power constraints all the plants pretty much died,” he said in March. “To date, there’s not been one piece of marketable material that’s been grown here.”
Federico’s comments even seeped into the debate over a proposed massive redevelopment of the adjacent NJ Transit properties, with members of the public questioning before the Planning Board whether the town’s electrical grid could support the up to 400 apartments it could allow.
But Ameno said the electrical supply was not the problem.
“They had enough power to power half the town by the time they were done,” he said.
And as late as December, the crop was flourishing, Ameno said. His Farm to Flame Instagram account features photos and videos of rows of cannabis plants growing under lights and humming fans inside the converted warehouse at 15 Leonard Street.
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Ameno and two other partners allege Federico and Duckworth, the longtime owner of Red Bank Recycling who owns the property at 15 Leonard Street, ordered it all to be tossed in a dumpster, a violation of protocols for the disposal of cannabis.
In a letter to the NJ State Cannabis Regulatory Commission provided to redbankgreen, Matt Cirincioni, who identified himself as head of cultivation at the facility, alleges “improper disposal of cannabis flower material, obstruction of licensed site access, misrepresentation on CRC license applications, and failure to pay wages owed.”
The letter reads:
“On or around March 4th or 5th, 2025, I was informed that hundreds of pounds of finished cannabis material were disposed of, reportedly under the direction of Alex Federico and with the assistance of Bill Duckworth of Red Bank Recycling. This was done without following CRC-mandated disposal and track-and-trace procedures.
– It is my belief that this disposal was executed to thwart pending litigation from other partners, and to cover up the fact that the product had not been properly tracked or reported.”
Cirincioni and Ameno are not the the only business partners accusing Federico of wrongdoing.
In a police report filed with the Red Bank Police Department, Christopher Traendly, an investor and fellow head of cultivation, said he watched remotely on his surveillance camera as an associate of Duckworth blocked the gates with concrete blocks to keep him out.
Duckworth, whom Traendly identifies as a five percent owner of the farm, later prevented him from getting his growing equipment back telling him in a phone call, “You’re out of here!” according to the police report. He says Duckworth is hiring a new grower using Traendly’s equipment.
Traendly also filed a fraud report with the RBPD alleging Federico spent $100,000 he had wired him to pay for a license on unknown expenses and ran up $18,000 in charges on his American Express card, including paying the electric bill on his personal residence.
The Borough of Red Bank’s 2022 cannabis ordinance allows one wholesale or growing facility within town borders. Three retail cannabis facilities also allowed under the ordinance are up and running. By law, the borough would collect a two percent tax all the weed sold from the facility.
Owners of the business received Planning Board approval to open an indoor cannabis growing facility inside several warehouse-type buildings at the property next to the NJ Transit rail yard in December 2022.
The business was to be owned by Federico and Susan and William Duckworth, owners of the property, according to planning board testimony.
Attempts to reach William Duckworth, including multiple in-person visits and messages left at the family’s other business in Red Bank were not returned.
The original license was issued to a company called Full Spectrum Biotech, based near Los Angeles, which supplies cannabis and related products throughout California. The license was transferred at some point to Market Wave.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
