What is Owen Hanson doing now? Former star football player turned drug kingpin’s life after prison explored

Former football player Owen Hanson, who was previously imprisoned for his involvement in drug smuggling activities, is the subject of a new documentary titled, "Cocaine Quaterback: Signal Caller For the Cartel." Hanson, who was released last year from prison, has since started his own business, the California Ice Protein company, a brand that focuses on handcrafted high protein ice cream bars, inspiring others to eat healthy without compromising on their love for sweets.

"Cocaine Quaterback: Signal Caller For the Cartel" premiered on Prime Video on September 25. It traces Owen Hanson's journey from an promising player destined for sporting success to his descent into drug smuggling, and his eventual rise to a powerful position as a drug kingpin.

More about Owen Hanson and his life after prison, as new documentary on his life premiers on Prime Video

Owen Hanson was born in the 1980s and grew up in Redondo Beach, California. According to DM Talkies, his parents separated when he was young, and he was later raised by his father. Hanson eventually earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California.

At college, he joined an unnamed fraternity, where he began engaging in illegal activities related to drug smuggling. In his interview with The Mob Museum, Owen Hanson said:

"I was willing to do anything it took to be able to fit in with those USC kids."

After college, he worked as a real estate developer, while his small scale illegal dealings gradually grew into a much larger operation. According to People Magazine, he adopted the nickname "O-Dog" and became part of an elite circle of people. In an excerpt from his book, titled "The California Kid: From USC Golden Boy to International Drug Kigpin," written by renowned ghost writer Alex Cody Foster and published in 2024, Owen Hanson recounts his post college life, saying:

"Around me, the fellas were slugging champagne like there was no tomorrow, snorting lines of coke off the table, and downing shots of Clase Azul Ultra Tequila in between slobbery bites of herb-butter snow crab and sixty-day dry-aged Tomahawk steak? Our table was the personification of gluttony, lust, and excess: gorgeous women and coked-up guys, mounds of food, all different variations of drugs and alcohol. The Super Bowl was like Christmas in the betting community."

Owen Hanson's activities eventually brought him under the radar of the FBI, who launched an investigation. According to People Magazine, prominent gambler RJ Cipriani turned informant for the authorities. He willingly lost $ 2.5 million, a debt he was required to pay back to Hanson. Soon after, Hanson began threatening Cipriani, leading to his arrest in September 2015 along with twenty one of his associates.

According to the official FBI website, in 2017 Ownen Hanson was sentanced to twenty one years in priso, but was released in March 2024 after just serving less than seven years. Reflecting on his past activities, he said:

"I can’t say who I was working for. But just put it this way: At the time I was working for the most infamous cartel in the world."

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Owen Hanson, who now operates his own company remains on supervised parole. He had previously developed the recipie for his ice cream bars while still in prison. He further shared in his interview with The Mob Museum, how he should have been dead a long time ago, adding that going to prison is probably what saved him in the end.

While incarcerated, he also completed with an online MBA degree from the California Coast University. Since his release from prison, Hanson has reconnected with many of his former teammates and coaches.

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