Kenny Chapman is a man of many names, but none more infamous than Kenny Chapman is the man in charge of one of the largest network of sober homes and rehab centers in the country. He's been accused of bribing patients to attend their drug treatment centers to bill their insurances, allowing many of the patients to continue using drugs. And he's also accused of recruiting women to engage in prostitution.
00:00:52.000By December 2016, at least five overdose deaths have been linked to Kenny Chapman and his drug treatment facilities.
00:01:06.000After building a strong case against him, law enforcement moves in.
00:01:11.000We found evidence that further supported not only the healthcare fraud, but also the human trafficking portion of the case.
00:01:17.000The Department of Justice arrested Chapman and five others, including doctors, owners and employees of sober homes and treatment centers.
00:01:25.000There's a laundry list of accusations against them, including bribing patients to attend their drug treatment centers to bill their insurances,
00:01:33.000allowing many of the patients to continue using drugs.
00:01:36.000Chapman is accused of threatening patients to keep them from leaving the facilities, even recruiting women to engage in prostitution.
00:01:43.000In 2015, News Channel 5 made contact with the family of one patient who went missing under Chapman's care.
00:01:50.000Private investigator Joe Carrillo helped find the woman and says that's when he first learned of what was happening at the treatment facilities.
00:01:57.000I didn't think she was going to make it.
00:01:59.000The worst case I've ever had of a person that I've recovered that's been on drugs.
00:02:03.000The FBI interviewed that woman before Chapman's arrest in December.
00:02:07.000Still very fearful of him because it's not only Kenny Chapman, he has a network and they're all just as bad as him.
00:02:16.000Welcome to a special investigative edition of Firebrand.
00:02:20.000We are here to study and take a deep dive into the issue of addiction in America
00:02:27.000and specifically how some of the crooks and thieves benefit off of a system that uses the addict as little more than an insurance policy with a heartbeat.
00:02:40.000They call it the Florida Rehab Shuffle and we're going to break down this horrifying revolving door of abuse.
00:02:47.000There's an individual, Kenny Chapman, you saw him and his circumstances portrayed in our open and he operated an entity called Reflections.
00:02:57.000Now what you just saw from that open, from Kenny Chapman and Reflections, that's the symptom of a much larger disease that has permeated Florida in particular.
00:03:07.000Chapman is just one of a massive cabal of predatory scammers.
00:04:26.000The rehab business rose quickly to a billion dollar industry by dragging vulnerable, unwitting addicts into this repugnant cycle of treatment, relapse, detox, rinse, wash and repeat.
00:04:40.000Meanwhile, the addicts aren't getting the care that they need, that they signed up for, that the taxpayers are paying for.
00:04:47.000And as certainly at least one recovering addict can attest, they often facilitate continued abuse at the hands of the economic system that is the addiction industrial complex.
00:05:01.000All of this in the name of the almighty dollar.
00:05:04.000Now, sadly, the catalyst for this massive scam was none other than Obamacare.
00:05:11.000The Affordable Care Act, it started the whole cycle.
00:05:14.000Yet another unforeseen consequence of Obama's failed healthcare overhaul.
00:05:19.000So joining me right now is a recovering opioid addict who spent over a month at Kenny Chapman's treatment center, Reflections.
00:05:28.000He's also our congressional office press assistant, and he's been doing reporting with and for Firebrand for quite some time.
00:05:38.000And before I get into your specific circumstances with Kenny Chapman and Reflections and what that tells us about policy,
00:05:44.000it's my belief that every American has some interface with addiction.
00:05:49.000You have addicts, family members of addicts, friends and loved ones, people who are the employers of addicts, employees of addicts, partners.
00:05:59.000How would you describe addiction to someone who's never been an addict?
00:06:07.000Because I can't imagine, though people have different interfaces, I can't imagine all of these interfaces would in any way be comparable.
00:06:16.000Yeah, that's a very good question, and thank you for having me on, Congressman.
00:06:20.000I think addiction is just completely and utterly, and specifically with opiates, because opiates are, I think, the most addictive substance on the planet, next to nicotine.
00:06:38.000Once you are hooked on opiates and, you know, starts with the pills and then eventually moves on to the heroin, you, that is your entire focus.
00:06:48.000You wake up, okay, how am I going to score enough money to make sure I don't get sick?
00:06:53.000And it's, unfortunately, you know, you have withdrawals when you stop, so even if you want to stop, the pain of withdrawal is, you know, pretty significant.
00:07:06.000Especially if you've been hooked on it for a number of years, months, whatever.
00:07:15.000And so it's, so addiction, I guess, in a nutshell, is just being completely consumed and trapped and everything that you care about, your family, friends, job, everything goes out the window.
00:07:36.000We've now seen how that system really does trap people.
00:07:42.000What was your observation of that particular circumstance?
00:07:46.000So what was really kind of bizarre to me was the first day I walked into Reflections, Kenny Chapman was walking around the facility in his three-piece suit with his Louis Vuitton belt.
00:07:58.000And, you know, I don't hate on anyone for dressing well, but he, the disdain for his patients was palpable.
00:08:07.000I mean, the way he would talk to people and it just, just absolute lack of respect.
00:08:13.000Like you are almost like you're subhuman.
00:08:16.000And, and I can see now why after, you know, his arrest and subsequent, you know, sentencing for all the things that he did, I can see why he acted that way.
00:08:27.000Because he was a, someone who was attempting to, or he was engaging in multiple, you know, schemes that were making him rich.
00:08:37.000He was not only engaging in, you know, false treatment center, you know, urine analysis.
00:08:43.000He would have people, you know, sometimes pee twice and then, you know, just all different kinds of, you know, little things that would just.
00:08:55.000It's never about the patient, never about the patient.
00:08:56.000And so Chapman, he ultimately, he was pimping girls out of his sober homes and then sending them back to treatment and giving them heroin so they wouldn't say anything.
00:09:09.000And then when they would ultimately fail their drug tests, send them back to detox.
00:09:14.000And then, like you said, rinse, wash and repeat.
00:09:17.000And it's part of the reason that happens because the government keeps paying for it, right?
00:09:22.000Like, I mean, if you run, I mean, take the human part out of it.
00:09:25.000If you run one of these facilities, the last thing you really want is someone to graduate out of the most severe consequences of drug use and addiction.
00:09:36.000You want them to continue to be in some part of that cycle that's getting paid for, right?
00:09:41.000So, yeah, whether it's whether it's detox, whether you're just still in treatment and making sure that, you know, you're getting paid by the getting the kickbacks from the labs, getting the kickback from the sober homeowners, all that stuff.
00:09:53.000And so, yes, it's just, you know, making sure that they are perpetually involved in that cycle and providing absolutely no treatment.
00:10:04.000In fact, exactly the opposite of treatment.
00:10:06.000Well, and yeah, and if you provide treatment and people get better, it's actually disruptive to your business model.
00:10:12.000Now, we've been talking about this one facility in Florida, but there are so many others.
00:10:17.000I mean, Chapman is a symptom of a much larger disease, and this corrupt practice has absolutely contributed to the major increase in opioid overdoses and in opioid abuse.
00:10:28.000Now, the deaths that we've seen over the last several years, absolutely heartbreaking.
00:10:47.000Over the course of three years, all right, they're at about over 71,000 for 2021.
00:10:52.000You compare that to 37,000 back in 2019, the trend of deaths are up essentially over 20,000 a year for the past three years.
00:11:04.000Those numbers are obviously very disturbing.
00:11:06.000Now, Chris, we understand that these one size fits all solutions that put all of the country under the same drug rehabilitation paradigm, they ultimately fail.
00:11:19.000But in your opinion, like, what is the way the government could have a positive impact, if possible, to try to go after these predatory systems and the predatory way that patients are used in these rehab centers?
00:11:34.000Yeah, well, I think it needs to start at the local level.
00:11:38.000And, you know, we need to have oversight over these rehabilitation centers.
00:11:43.000If someone wants to open a treatment center, then they need, you know, strict scrutiny from, you know, local and or state.
00:11:52.000I think that starting from the bottom up as opposed to the top down is going to be much more effective in fighting the epidemic.
00:12:01.000I worry about the corruption impacting politics, too.
00:12:05.000I mean, you look at some of these rehab centers in Florida, they are cash machines.
00:12:10.000And then they have the ability to go hire the lobbyists to be able to go influence the policies.
00:12:15.000So no matter where someone is trapped, whether you're trapped in detox, in rehab, in 12-step, in relapse, no matter where you're trapped, they're getting paid off of the grift one way or the other.
00:12:28.000You know, are you worried about the sophistication of these networks to be able to play at a very dangerous level politically?
00:12:36.000Yeah, I mean, that's always a concern.
00:12:39.000You know, when there's so much money flying around, you know, there's always going to be room for corruption.
00:12:45.000And, you know, the government, you know, they have thrown plenty of money at this problem.
00:13:42.000I mean, when rehab used to be something that you only got at church, that you only got through a sincere nonprofit that was not motivated by cash and profits and who their ultimate acquisition would be at some point, but really motivated by helping people.
00:13:58.000You might have had less access to those programs, but I'm willing to bet they probably had a higher success rate in helping people out of addiction than these processing centers.
00:14:11.000They're really addict processing centers more than they're about rehabilitation.
00:14:14.000And I worry, like when the federal government puts a trillion dollars on the table, as we have with some of these things, are we doing that to make people better?
00:14:24.000Are we doing that so that there's always a payment cycle to continue to feed addiction?
00:14:30.000Well, I think, you know, there can be dual, you know, ulterior motives in that and in that, you know, they, of course, you know, they want to help people.
00:14:39.000But also, yes, there's that. But I think that, you know, what's really irritating about so many people in Congress who want to legislate on opioids, whether it be opioids, guns or whatever, they don't know really what they're talking about.
00:14:58.000Yes, on the hearings that you that you attend, these people just, you know, talking out of their backside.
00:15:05.000And that's, you know, a concern is that these people, they're trying to, again, some shoehorn, you know, put a square peg into a circular hole, fix the opioid problem.
00:15:18.000And it's, it's different for everyone. Some people need treatment, some people can just, you know, go to the 12, you need the 12 steps, you know, AA, NA, other people can just stop.
00:15:30.000And they don't need any further, you know, counseling or whatever. It's just, it's different for everybody.
00:15:36.000And I think that the government needs to approach it in a fiscally, a more fiscally responsible way than they have.
00:15:45.000Yeah, I would suggest we should measure how well we're doing, not by how much money we're spending, but by how successful these programs are at getting folks out of the cycle, not keeping them trapped in the cycle.
00:15:59.700It's almost like the government's policies. And of course, I agree with you on matters like Narcan, but the policies to continue to fund every step of the cycle ensures that, that there aren't as many escape hatches, right, to get out.
00:16:15.240I mean, and so, so if there was somebody, you know, watching us right now, who felt like they were being treated like a insurance policy with a heartbeat, what, what, what choices do people have?
00:16:29.500What, what advice would you give as someone who's now a successful congressional staffer, you know, doing a great job in our office?
00:16:35.380How do people realize that they're being victimized in this way? And then how do they, how do they turn the tide?
00:16:40.300I think you start to, at first you kind of, you don't really know you've got some cool guy with Jordans and, uh, you know, driving a Lexus pulls up to your 12 step meeting and says, Hey man, yeah, I can get you to treatment.
00:16:53.820Florida, you know, girls in bikinis, blah, blah, blah, you know? Um, and, uh, so that, but then once you get into it and you know, you're, you start to see the kind of the grift.
00:17:05.280Yeah. The, the, yeah, the constant cycle of wait, why am I paying the sober home rent $75 a week when that's supposed to be covered by the insurance? That's just, and so I would tell people that you're not powerless.
00:17:20.480You may, they, they, they try to make you feel that way, especially Mr. Chapman tried to make, you know, almost dehumanize addicts so that we would feel almost like we had no recourse when he would steal our property.
00:17:33.380He stole people's phones, stole people's, uh, uh, wallets, medications that they need to prevent them from going back to opiates. Um, it's, it was, it's terrible. And so they're just Kenny Chapman, but how do people use their power to be able to escape that?
00:17:51.520I would say that you speak up, um, you know, tell, you know, there are so many different, um, you know, outreach programs where if you feel like you're being abused by, um, a treatment center by rehab that you can reach out to and talk to these people and see if you are being abused.
00:18:10.260And I think that, you know, more of that, more, uh, awareness needs to be brought to that. And I think that if people realize that they do have recourse that no, Kenny Chapman can't just take your phone that you can, you know, get the police involved and things like that. And, you know, just, yeah, I'd say just standing up for yourself and in regards to how to, you know, get out of, you know, addiction, I get out of the cycle.
00:18:36.760Again, it's, it's a one, it's a, it's not a one size fits all, and it's different for everyone, but believe in yourself and forgive yourself because, you know, in my opinion, if God's forgiven you, what, you know, and what right do you have not to forgive yourself and the people you've wronged, you know, you try to make amends and you do your best.
00:18:59.520And, um, so just stay strong and remember that, you know, the infinite human potential that we have is, is, is more, that is more powerful than this, um, substance and addiction.
00:19:16.160What a great place to leave it. Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Chris. And, you know, I really believe that, uh, a lot of the notice requirements that we put around other features of healthcare, where people have a hotline to call, a way to regain that power that you talked about.
00:19:33.300Maybe it's time that some of these entities that draw down gazillions of dollars in federal funding and state funding, that they ought to have posted notice, where if people feel like they're just being shuffled through the process and taken advantage of, there's somewhere for them to call and some way for them to get an inspector general or an attorney general or a state attorney involved.
00:19:55.440And in fact, that's happened with some frequency and it's been like, and it's been private businesses. Yeah. It hasn't been the government. It's been private businesses that have been creating these kinds of hotlines where you can call and be like, okay. And then they get lawyers involved. Okay. Is this person being, you know, and so, uh, transparency is a very powerful thing. And the more eyes you get on something, sometimes you can fix it. Yeah.
00:20:15.520Up next, my conversation with a whistleblower in this process, an exclusive interview with a former sober home operator named Malcolm. Now we're going to get his side and his take on the Florida rehab shuffle. Malcolm and I spoke a little earlier. Take a listen.
00:20:35.940Can you start by just telling us for maybe someone who doesn't know what is a sober home and what is the objective and the best of circumstances to help people?
00:20:44.360For sober home or for addicts that were, are trying to transition their life and, you know, back into the world. And the sober home is supposed to, you know, give the addict a place to live and send them to pretty much ERP or IOP with the treatment center. And from there, from there, help them get their life back together.
00:21:04.440And is it your belief that all sober homes in the market are above board, honest there to help the addicts? Or is there a dark underbelly of this industry?
00:21:14.360I believe there's a dark underbelly of this industry. Everybody's not in it, so you pretty much help the client.
00:21:20.540And tell me what you've seen that makes you think that.
00:21:25.180I've seen a lot of things. I've seen where, you know, halfway houses, you know, mistreat the clients or, hey, they might kick them out. You know, it's pretty much an insurance game for the people.
00:21:36.460And if they don't have good insurance, they'll kick them out of it. They do numerous things to hurt the client.
00:21:41.920And is it your belief that the incentives and insurance are to keep people maybe in treatment rather than make sure that they graduate from it?
00:21:53.220Absolutely. I think a lot of people that own halfway houses, it's a money game for them.
00:21:58.100And the treatment center, too, is pretty much a money game for them.
00:22:00.780You know, but you have to have a treatment center or a halfway house owner that really cares about people.
00:22:07.660And from there, they can transition into living, you know, sober life again.
00:22:13.060Malcolm, my reporting suggests that there are people who show up as brokers to AA meetings, NA meetings, and recruit people under false pretenses.
00:22:29.980Like you say, they call them brokers where they pretty much go to AA classes or drugs, anonymous classes, and they sit and they, well, they can plot on, hey, I have a better halfway house for you if you come to this one.
00:22:42.360And that's what they do. You're absolutely right. It's like a black market.
00:22:45.700And do they get a kickback or a benefit if they recruit people to a particular place?
00:22:51.220Absolutely. That's the only way they would be doing it unless it was some profit involved.
00:22:57.560And so, as you've operated a sober home, what are some of the things that people have told you maybe about some of the other places they've been and the challenges they've had there?
00:23:08.980Well, some of the challenges were that they would go to sober homes and in the sober homes they would be doing drugs in the sober house.
00:23:16.280Or they would go to a sober home that was not in a good area where they can just walk outside and purchase drugs or something like that.
00:23:24.160Or it can be the person that owns the house. He, you know, doesn't have a good tech.
00:23:29.080A tech is the person that watches over the people that's in the house and, you know, that person could be selling them drugs, too.
00:23:34.620So it's a lot of ins and outs to the business.
00:23:38.160Our federal government puts billions of dollars into sober homes, into treatment, into all of these ways to try to help addicts.
00:23:46.580What advice would you give about how to ensure that these terrible drug dens don't trap addicts unwittingly?
00:23:54.620Well, I think what you have to do is the number one thing is you have to give them something to fight off the craving.
00:24:03.140Like you have some boxing, you might have methadone, you might have, you know, other ways of fighting the drug.
00:24:57.380Well, I believe that they're aware, but I don't know if they're doing anything to police it.
00:25:02.540And when people have done well in recovery at your sober home, what have been the experiences that you've seen have led people to a better path and a better life?
00:25:16.120I think sometimes one of the greatest things that can lead you to a better life is faith in yourself.
00:25:51.180And, you know, what's so frustrating is that in government, we think if we just keep spending more money, that that's what's going to make people better.
00:25:59.960It's all about someone finding in themselves the ability to battle addiction.
00:26:05.060And, you know, sometimes that comes from a higher power.
00:26:07.320Sometimes it comes from faith, family member, children, something that you want to live for.
00:26:12.440And just moving people around in the system doesn't seem like a great way, a great way to help them.
00:26:18.060So, you know, how if someone were really wanting help and they didn't know whether they were being recruited by a broker for a good place or a bad place,
00:26:27.920what advice would you give them about some of the first things that might tell you that your road to recovery is, in fact, this money game you described and not something that really can help?
00:26:39.380Well, I think the first would be the tell sign would be the people in the house.
00:26:44.280If they're regularly getting high, then you know that's not the sober house you need to be in.
00:26:49.860And if they don't have a program telling you where, hey, you have this amount of time to get yourself together and this amount of time,
00:26:56.680and they're not taking you to AA meetings and, you know, meetings like that, then that's not the sober house for you.
00:27:02.520So people should observe the path to recovery that others are on that are in that environment.
00:27:09.040And if it looks like it's unsuccessful, well, then it's just a game, right?
00:28:11.840All right. Let's end on a positive note.
00:28:13.580What what would be the best story, the best circumstance that would give people hope that you've seen the capability to find that thing in yourself to turn your life around?
00:28:24.180Well, I've seen lots of people, you know, not their parents.
00:28:28.880You have to have once your parents get in your life, you have a good support cast.
00:29:31.420Now that we've broken down this hellacious cycle of abuse and gotten firsthand testimony from people heavily involved in different aspects of the process,
00:29:41.400Well, we all know that Congress isn't very good at dealing with too much of anything,
00:29:48.000but particularly issues like the opioid epidemic that require more than just a nationwide cash waterfall for people who are abusing addicts.
00:29:58.440As we saw with Obamacare, again, forcing insurance companies to cover drug rehabilitation in what functionally becomes a relapse washing machine.
00:30:09.200Well, that's not an essential health benefit.
00:30:12.680Sometimes even the most well-meaning architects of this policy allow for the Florida rehab shuffle to occur as a result of unintended consequences of the legislation.