A new documentary is set to lay bare the astonishing tale of how two identical twin brothers trafficked $500 million worth of prescription medication across America at the height of the country's opioid crisis.
Chris and Jeff George ran four 'Pain Clinics' in South Florida which became one-stop 'candy stores' for painkillers, signed off by lax doctors who were given financial incentives, between 2008 and 2010.
Desperate customers would travel for hundreds of miles from all across the country to get their hands on the drugs which have ravaged local communities and led to more than 3,000 overdose deaths.
The George brothers, now 42, raked in $40million in profit from the clinics and would compete with each other over their lavish lifestyles which involved boats, monstrous cars and flashy watches.
They are now accused of 'pouring gasoline on opioid crisis fire' in American Pain, a documentary from CNN - in which Jeff brags: 'I believe we’ve created a new form of tourism - we were basically the Disneyland of painkillers.'
The documentary premiers at 9pm on Sunday February 5.
Chris and Jeff George ran four 'Pain Clinics' in South Florida which became one-stop 'candy stores' for painkillers between 2008 and 2010.
The brothers trafficked more than $500 million worth of prescription medication and would compete with each other over their lavish lifestyles
Their clinics prescribed 18 million units of oxycodone alone - ranking it among the top nine purchasers of oxycodone in the nation.
The film comes from Emmy Award-winning director Darren Foster and it features FBI wiretap recordings and undercover videos as well as the brothers' exclusive jailhouse interviews.
It charts the rise and ultimate decline of their empire, culminating in the brothers' arrests in 2011.
Astonishing scenes show dozens of customers lining up outside their clinics waiting for their turn.
They would be greeted by doctors who had been recruited through local newspaper adverts and would hand out large and frequent prescriptions.
The physicians were paid per person they treated - offering a cash incentive to keep dolling out the meds.
The doctors did not obtain prior medical records or prescribe any alternative treatment.
Huge bouncers waited outside the doors to stop customers from snorting their pills in the parking lot.
One clinic referred people without MRIs to a trailer behind a strip club, where they could get lap dances while waiting for new scans from sham radiologists, claims one FBI.
The brothers thought the imaging would make their organization look more legitimate, federal officials said.
To stay under the radar, the clinic would only accept credit cards or cash.
The clinics would recruit doctors through local newspaper adverts and would incentivize them to dish out large and frequent prescriptions
Their tale is exposed in CNN documentary American Pain which premieres Sunday February 5
The boys would compete with each other over their lavish lifestyles. Pictured Chris with his monster truck
Chris is pictured with partner and later wife was Dianna Marie Pavnick, a former stripper
Their operation came at a time when prescription painkillers meant big business and local communities were only just beginning to realize how toxic the legal drugs could be.
'The George brothers did not start the opioid crisis. But they sure as hell poured gasoline on the fire,' said retired FBI agent Kurt McKenzie.
'They became the largest street-level distribution group operating in the entire United States.
'Nobody put more pills on the streets than they did. Nobody … and they were operating in broad daylight.'
McKenzie led an investigation into the brothers nicknames Operation Oxy Alley.
It was sparked after the clinics showed up at scenes involving drug overdoses.
Shortly after investigators bugged clinic phones and send undercover agents to buy drugs.
The American Pain clinics prescribed 18 million units of oxycodone alone - ranking it among the top nine purchasers of oxycodone in the nation
The operation, which generated tens of millions of dollars, was connected to 3,000 overdoses
One customer told an agent 'It's like a candy store down there.'
McKenzie said: ' Before this case, the public only knew that people were dying from drug overdoses, they had no idea how the ‘system’ worked,” McKenzie said.
'The George brothers created the blueprint.'
The film also shows drug dealers driving to the clinics from Kentucky in rented buses marked 'Tree of Life Baptists Church.'
But the empire finally came crashing down in August 2011.
Federal investigators raided their homes and discovered illegal weapons, drugs and other items.
Chris George pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He served 11 years and was released in September 2021.
Meanwhile Jeff pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge and was sentenced to 15 and a half years.
On top of that he was convicted of second-degree felony murder in relation to the fatal overdose of a patient.
He received an additional 20-year sentence and remains in prison.
He also was convicted of second-degree felony murder in the fatal overdose of a patient, according to court filings. He received an additional 20-year sentence for the murder charge and remains in prison.
Their mother Denice Hagerty was also indicted in the case as she worked at one of the pain clinics.
She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Some 29 other people, including thirteen doctors, were all caught up in the criminal proceedings.
Inside an American Pain clinic. The brothers' mother mother Denice Hagerty worked with them in the operation
'Of the 20 highest-prescribing physicians in the entire country, five of them worked at just one of Chris’ facilities,” said McKenzie.
'These are real doctors. They have real licenses … and what looked to be a real clinic.'
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