George ‘Mack’ Bird III, Opioid Trafficking, Georgia 2023

Former Georgia Doctor Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison for Role in Opioid Crisis

DUBLIN, GA:

A former gynecologist, George ‘Mack’ Bird III, 59, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison and fined $20,000 for his role in fueling the opioid crisis in Georgia. Bird was sentenced to 100 months in prison and will be subject to 36 months of supervised release following his incarceration.

Bird, who pled guilty in March 2023 before Senior U. S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. to charges of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, was indicted in 2017 on multiple felonies. The negotiated plea with a sentence of 100 months in prison does not include the possibility of parole.

According to court documents, Bird owned and operated a gynecology practice in Eastman, Ga., about an hour southeast of Macon, and later opened a weight loss clinic in Dublin. He admitted to selling and prescribing drugs, including the opiate hydrocodone, along with alprazolam (Xanax), carisoprodol (Soma), phentermine (Adipex), and phendimetrazine (Plegime) to customers who typically paid in cash and received no legitimate medical services.

Bird’s criminal conduct netted him millions of dollars. Although he kept a significant portion of that money, Bird used some of his proceeds to pay his co-conspirators and purchase drugs for eventual distribution.

“Mack Bird could be the poster child for the opioid crisis in this country – a greedy, self-serving criminal who violated the law and his medical oath to enrich himself at the lifelong expense of the ‘patients’ he willingly enslaved to deadly addictions,” said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

Bird agreed to forfeit $2.7 million of seized assets and real estate that he admitted were traceable to proceeds of his crimes. The U.S. Attorney General has made it clear that battling opioid abuse is a priority, and this office will vigorously prosecute illegal drug dealers whether they are on a street corner or in a fancy office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office commended the hard work and dedication of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad and the Oconee Drug Task Force, both of which investigated the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/georgia-physician-sentenced-100-months-prison-fined-role-fueling-opioid-crisis