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Prime Video Releases ‘Cocaine Quarterback,’ Revisiting USC Walk-On Turned Convicted Kingpin Owen Hanson

The series centers Hanson’s voice alongside records and rebuttals as unresolved questions linger over his sealed, early sentence reduction.

Overview

  • The three-part documentary debuted Sept. 25 on Prime Video and is produced by Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas with Jody McVeigh-Schultz directing.
  • Federal records show Hanson pleaded guilty in 2017, received a sentence of about 21 years, and forfeited roughly $5 million as the leader of the violent ODOG racketeering enterprise.
  • More than 21 associates were arrested in the probe, which included cooperation between the FBI and New South Wales Police and culminated in Hanson’s 2015 arrest during an undercover sting.
  • Hanson was transferred to transitional housing in March 2024 under a sealed motion citing “extraordinary and compelling reasons,” later left a halfway house in 2025, and remains under supervision.
  • The docuseries highlights contested claims, including Hanson’s boast of earning $1 million a day and his beginnings supplying steroids at USC, while critics question the balance between entertainment and accountability.