Drunk With Power is based on a yearlong investigation by reporters Marnie Eisenstadt and Patrick Lohmann of Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

The report is drawn from more than 50 interviews of former and current group members, relatives of members, addiction experts with knowledge of the group, and members of the Alcoholics Anonymous community in Central New York and beyond.

N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse.com Aerial view of Butternut Street on Syracuse's North Side, facing south toward downtown.

Episode 1: How a rogue AA group puts Syracuse addicts in danger

Four times every weekday, dozens of people walk through the front door of 732 Butternut St. in Syracuse and into a secret meeting.

They drink coffee out of mismatched cups and talk about their deepest despair.

This is how it has been for 30 years. They think they are going to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, but they are showing up for something vastly different.

The organization called "The Syracuse Group" or "The Butternutters" offers a hard-core, controlling brand of sobriety unlike traditional AA groups.

The Syracuse Group routinely gives hundreds of desperate and impressionable alcoholics dangerous advice, a Syracuse.com|The Post-Standard investigation has found.

Interviews with former members of the group, social service workers and doctors in Syracuse reveal the practices of a group that cloaks itself in secrecy and puts its members at risk.

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Episode 2: Quit your meds, AA group tells addicts; that's terrible advice

Ben Kress was a 31-year-old medical student at SUNY Upstate University. The curly-haired man who loved to cook was a standout: His neurology research has been cited hundreds of times by fellow scientists.

Kress also had a secret: He was battling drug addiction.

He struggled with opiate addiction after two back surgeries to correct high school football injuries. He'd been in rehab twice in his 20s, his mother said. He'd suffered from depression and insomnia, she said, and took Prozac on and off for the depression.

Kress started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the Syracuse Group on Butternut Street in September 2018.

On Oct. 8, Kress left the late-night meeting of the group with his sponsor, who drove Kress home. They chatted in the car, then Kress went inside.

Hours later, Kress died of an overdose.

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Episode 3: Desperate addicts fall into the grip of radical AA group

The Syracuse Group has called itself Alcoholics Anonymous for three decades. The window bears the AA logo. But from the start it has been a rogue group that breaks AA guidelines, operating under the radar while dispensing dangerous advice, a Syracuse.com/Post-Standard investigation reveals.

The anonymity and secrecy built into AA has prevented AA's leadership or anyone else from doing much to stop the group, which other AA groups refer to as "The Butternutters" for their home on Butternut Street.

Thousands have passed through the doors of the Syracuse Group. At first blush, the group's message sounds great, former members said. Sobriety comes through spiritual purity and helping others.

But the group pushes members to "surrender" in a way that is not like mainstream AA, and twists those values into something much darker, former members said.

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Episode 4: 'He just keeled right over'; rebel AA group tries to detox addicts

For more than 20 years, group members have brought drunks to dry out in the narrow office with a scruffy carpet on Butternut Street, Wolferd said.

It's a dangerous practice, experts say. An alcoholic withdrawing from the bottle can go through severe vomiting and potentially deadly seizures.

That should be done at a medical facility with help quickly available, they say, not an unequipped storefront meeting space staffed by amateurs.

Three former members of the Syracuse Group told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that they were assigned to watch over addicts at night as they dried out; another alcoholic described being kept there. None of those running those operations had any special training.

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Do you have some knowledge of the Syracuse Group or related groups? Contact our reporters:

Patrick Lohmann at email | twitter | 315-766-6670

Marnie Eisenstadt at email | twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2246

About the reporting: Read about the sourcing for this investigation and how we handled the naming of AA members.

How to Get Help: Resources for help if you or a loved one are struggling with addiction.

Ongoing coverage: