Prosecutors: Ga. lottery winner used money to fund crystal meth ring

A Georgia man, who won $3 million playing the scratch-off lottery, funded a crystal meth ring with a portion of his winnings, according to authorities.

Ronnie Music, Jr., 45, of Waycross, Ga., used money from his 2015 lottery prize to purchase methamphetamine with the intent resell it, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia said in a statement Tuesday. 

“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 in a statement. “As a result of his unsound investment strategy, Music now faces decades in a federal prison.”

According to prosecutors, Music’s “coconspirators” attempted to sell 11 pounds of crystal meth, worth more than $500,000.

Authorities seized guns, ammunition, vehicles and $1 million in meth as part of the investigation, according to the attorney’s office.

Music pled guilty to federal drug trafficking and firearm charges during a plea hearing last week.

He could face life in prison.

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