Former Pill Mill Kingpin Given 20 Years In Prison

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WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) — A former pill mill kingpin, who's drug empire was worth a reported $43 million, was sentenced to 20 years in prison following the fatal overdose of a West Palm Beach man in 2009.

Local news outlets report Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Joseph Marx sentenced 35-year-old Jeff George with the maximum possible term Wednesday in a plea deal concerning second-degree murder and drug trafficking charges.

In 2011, George made the plea deal to help the government send dozens of his former employees, acquaintances and his mother to prison.

George was arrested following the 2009 overdose death of 24-year-old Joseph Bartolucci. Prosecutors say the pills were prescribed to him by former Dr. Gerald Klein while a patient at George's East Coast Pain Clinic. A jury recently acquitted Klein of murder charges.

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