Georgia Man Spent Lottery Winnings on Crystal Meth Business

After winning $3 million from a lottery scratch-off game in 2015, a Georgia man sensibly chose to invest those gains. Unfortunately for him, his investment in a crystal meth business earned him decades behind bars.

Ronnie Music Jr., from Waycross, Georgia pled guilty in district court to federal drug trafficking and firearm charges last week for conspiring to possess and distribute methamphetamine in Ware County, Georgia and elsewhere.

In September 2015, Music’s coconspirators were caught attempting to sell 11 pounds of crystal meth, valued at $500,000.

As the investigation unraveled, Music was identified as the supplier, having purchased the drugs for resale with his lottery winnings as part of a wider operation involving more than $1 million of meth, firearms, ammunition, vehicles and over $600,000 in cash, said the United States attorney’s office in a statement.

After winning Georgia’s “100X the Money,” Music said in a lottery statement, “I buy tickets every once in a while. I couldn’t believe it, and I still don’t believe it yet.”

He then told the state lottery authorities he and his wife planned on saving a portion of his winnings.

Yet, over the months to follow, Music, a maintenance supervisor at the time, chose an alternate investment plan.

“Music decided to test his luck by sinking millions of dollars of lottery winnings into the purchase and sale of crystal meth,” United States Attorney Ed Tarver said. “As a result of his unsound investment strategy, Music now faces decades in a federal prison.”