BRUNSWICK, Ga. – A Waycross, Georgia, man who won $3 million in a scratch-off lottery game in February 2015 was sentenced Monday to 21 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring.
The Department of Justice said Ronnie Music Jr., 46, used his lottery winnings to invest in kilograms of crystal meth to sell, becoming a member of a multi-state drug organization that trafficked in the drug.
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The DOJ said several of Music's conspirators attempted to sell more than 10 pounds of meth to undercover agents in a Winn Dixie parking lot in Brunswick as Music, the supplier of the meth, watched nearby while the deal went down.
Less than a month later, the DOJ said, Music was arrested in Tennessee after he sold pounds of meth to a confidential informant as Music's girlfriend and infant daughter were in the vehicle he used to conduct the deal.
A search of Music's home produced 11 firearms, including assault-style weapons, a prohibited sawed-off shotgun and a stolen revolver, the DOJ said. As a convicted felon, Music was prohibited from possessing firearms. In addition, during the investigation, law enforcement seized millions of dollars of meth, $517,485 in cash, multiple vehicles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Music pleaded guilty on July 22 to trafficking large amounts of meth and to being a felon in possession of firearms.
"This case has received a great deal of light-hearted coverage because of Mr. Music’s unsound investment decision to buy crystal meth with his lottery winnings," U.S. Attorney Jim Durham said. "The truth of the matter is this: Mr. Music is a predator who has destroyed lives by pushing poison and fear. As law enforcement and prosecutors, our job is to protect our communities by sending predators like Music to federal prison for a very long time.”
The DOJ said 21 other defendants have been indicted and arrested for their participation in the large-scale drug conspiracy. Twenty of them have been convicted.