Sunflower founder faces 5 months in jail

BOULDER – Michael Gilliland, founder of the Sunflower Farmers Market natural grocery store chain, faces five months in jail after pleading guilty to a felony count of attempted pandering Monday in Arizona.

Gilliland, 53, originally was charged with one count of child prostitution after getting caught in a police sting in Phoenix in February 2011. He resigned from his position as chief executive at Sunflower after the arrest.

Gilliland will be sentenced on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and is expected to start serving his sentence then, said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Arizona. He faces supervised probation for an unspecified period after the jail sentence, according to court documents.

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According to a police report, Gilliland was arrested after agreeing to pay $100 to an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute at a hotel. The officer asked Gilliland to bring cigarettes because she was too young to purchase them and the store would not take her fake ID, according to the report.

Sprouts Farmers Market acquired Sunflower Farmers Market in March. Sunflower operates 36 stores in eight states, including 12 stores in Colorado. Sprouts has plans to open stores in Longmont, Denver and Grand Junction.

The new Sprouts will have projected 2012 annual revenue approaching $2 billion, and plans to open 13 additional stores in 2012. Sprouts’ corporate office is in Phoenix.

Sunflower was co-founded in 2002 in Boulder by Gilliland, Libby Cook and Randy Clapp, co-founders of Wild Oats Market. Wild Oats was acquired by Whole Foods Market in 2007.

Sprouts is majority-owned by investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO).

Sunflower is privately owned by the co-founders, top managers and KMCP Advisors, a provider of private expansion capital. The combined company will continue to be majority-owned and controlled by Apollo.