‘O-Dog’ chained up

College football star turned drug lord gets 21 years in jail

HE was the college football star turned ruthless druglord who drove Porsches, decorated his home with a silver-plated AK-47 and threatened people with beheadings and photos of graves.

But Owen “O-Dog” Hanson’s lavish lifestyle came to an end this week after he was jailed for 21 years over the trafficking of drugs from the US into Australia.

Born in Southern California, Hanson made a name for himself as a gridiron star at the University of Southern California. Among the players on the team were future NFL stars Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart.

After leaving college, Hanson found himself embroiled in the world of sports betting, quickly earning a reputation as someone not to cross.

“He ran his gambling business like drug dealers run the drug business,” a former customer told Rolling Stone magazine.

“If you’re short a little money they’ll kill you – that’s the attitude he brought. It took all of us off guard. We are all educated ... white dudes. We thought he was one of us, but he acted like an Italian gangster from Queens.”

According to the Washington Post, Hanson soon expanded into the drug scene, acquiring a crew that included members with the nicknames “Tank” and “Animal”.

Soon federal US authorities would be drawn to Hanson and his operation. They would later accuse him of trafficking in cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA.

A regular visitor to Australia, Hanson boasted he could sell a kilo of cocaine in Australia for $228,000 compared with $26,000 in Los Angeles. He also used violence and intimidation to recoup debts.

This week, in sentencing Hanson to 21 years in prison, US District Judge William Hayes expressed his bewilderment at his downfall.

“It is difficult to understand how you got here,” he said. “Other than greed.”