Jason Pirozzolo

A non-surgical doctor who has practiced since 2011 at Orlando Hand Surgery Associates, Pirozzolo first rose to prominence in Florida politics through friendships with Republican politicians in Seminole County, particularly Jason Brodeur and former legislator tuned lobbyist Chris Dorworth. By 2010, Pirozzolo had enough influential friends in Tallahassee that Gov. Charlie Crist, who was then a Republican, appointed Pirozzolo to a seat on the board that runs Orlando International Airport, a coveted assignment helping control hundreds of millions of dollars a year in spending. During a September 2013 board meeting, Pirozzolo attempted to give a lobbying contract to Ballard Partners, the Tallahassee firm that Dorworth worked at until he resigned last week. Pirozzolo became popular with legislators in part because “Doc P” was a pilot who had access to a plane. Pirozzolo was able to fly frequently to Tallahassee to be “doctor of the day,” volunteering as a physician for legislators and legislative employees during session. Pirozzolo has been doctor of the day 30 times since 2011, according to House and Senate records, including 27 times in the state House alone. Pirozzolo was serving as the House’s doctor of the day once again on May 1, 2014, when the House took up the medical marijuana legislation sponsored by Gaetz and added the amendment sponsored by Brodeur that forced companies that wanted a dispensing license to also hire a medical director. The idea to require medical directors came from Pirozzolo. A few months later, Pirozzolo started the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association, a for-profit business that provides continuing education programs for doctors and organizes events promoting the industry. Pirozzolo’s longtime girlfriend, Savara Hastings, is the association’s executive director. The organization’s events regularly drew prominent Florida political figures, including Gaetz, Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, several state legislators and Roger Stone, the controversial political strategist who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump for crimes that included witness tampering. Megan Zalonka, the director of communications for AMMPA, also briefly worked for Greenberg: She was paid $7,000 for a consulting gig at the Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office, according to records. Employees later told auditors that they weren’t sure what she did. Pirozzolo married in 2012, he told the court his net worth was $30,000, according to his prenuptial agreement. But as the marijuana industry’s fortunes swelled, so did Pirozzolo’s. When Knox Nursery was acquired by Miami-based Cansortium Inc., records show that he and his longtime partner Orlando Florete were given a stake in the new company valued at the time at $2.1 million. One year later, Pirozzolo bought a second home in Key West for $700,000. The scandal appears to have upended his professional life: Orlando Hand Surgery has scrubbed Pirozzolo from its website and a receptionist said Friday that he is out on “emergency leave” and they do not know when he will be back. Pirozzolo had already resigned from the Orlando airport board last summer, not long after Greenberg was first indicted.