A South Georgia man used his $3 million lottery winnings to buy crystal methamphetamine for resale, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Ronnie Music Jr., 45, of Waycross, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Brunswick to drug trafficking and firearms charges, U.S. Attorney Ed Tarver said. Music worked with others to possess and distribute meth in Ware County and elsewhere, Tarver said. Waycross is about 240 miles southeast of Atlanta.
“Defendant Music decided to test his luck by sinking millions of dollars of lottery winnings into the purchase and sale of crystal meth,” Tarver said. “As a result of his unsound investment strategy, Music now faces decades in a federal prison.”
Music won a Georgia Lottery scratchers game in 2015, prosecutors said.
In September 2015, his accomplices were caught trying to sell about 11 pounds of crystal meth worth more than $500,000, prosecutors said. Music was identified as a source for the drug.
Agents seized more than $1 million worth of meth, firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, multiple vehicles and more than $600,000 in cash as part of the case, prosecutors said.
Music could be sentenced to life in prison. A pre-sentencing investigation will be conducted.
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