Christopher George–a 32 year old who is serving 17 1/2 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy for owning and operating several “pill mill” clinics in Broward and Palm Beach counties–is hoping to get his prison term reduced, provided that federal prosecutors think his anticipated testimony against two South Florida doctors is worth a reward. However, a recorded call he made to his father from the Palm Beach County Jail may have ruined his plans.
Despite a warning message that plays at the start of every jail inmate call informing them that all parties are being recorded, the two men (father and son) had a phone conversation that went on for about 15 minutes last week. The conversation consisted of the dad, John George, giving his son a play-by-play of how another witness testified in court and coaching his son on what questions might come up and what might sound good on the witness stand.
Even though his release date is scheduled for January 2026, George is hoping that he will be rewarded for his cooperation–testifying against two of his co-defendants and former employees, doctors Cynthia Cadet and Joseph Castronuovo–so that the prosecution will ask a judge to shave several years off his prison term.
The two doctors George is testifying against are on trial in federal court in West Palm Beach and are accused of prescribing massive cocktails of pain and anxiety pills resulting in the overdose deaths of nine patients.
Prosecutors believe Cadet, 43, of Parkland, should be held criminally responsible for seven of those deaths and Joseph Castronuovo, 74, of Key Largo, should be held criminally liable for the other two. As of right now, the physicians have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The defense attorneys for the two doctors felt that both the father and the son had engaged in “witness tampering,” even though the judge expressed doubt that it went that far and will issue a ruling before Christopher George is scheduled to testify next week.
After a two day break because of a jurors illness, the trial will resume Wednesday.
For more information go to this Sun Sentinel link:
