Meigs man sentenced after dog finds bag of Meth, lottery tickets

Reese pled guilty and got a six-year sentence
Reese pled guilty and got a six-year sentence(Thomas Co. Sheriff)
Published: Sep. 15, 2021 at 10:36 PM EDT
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VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - A Meigs man received a federal prison sentence Wednesday in Valdosta after he pleaded guilty to a possession charge, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

The release says Timothy Bernard Reese, 44, of Meigs, pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine after a neighbor’s dog found “a suspicious brown satchel” and brought it home to his owner.

According to the D.A.’s office, the neighbor called the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office on December 13, 2019, after his dog brought the bag home and he found “what appeared to be large quantities of illegal narcotics” inside when looking for an ID.

The contents tested positive for 154.78 grams (about 5.5 ounces) of methamphetamine and lottery tickets were also found inside the bag, the release states.

Thomas County-Thomasville Narcotics/Vice agents were able to pinpoint the exact location and time that the lottery tickets had been purchased. Police then obtained an arrest warrant for Reese after pulling the surveillance video from Susie Q’s Foods and seeing him purchase the tickets.

“The next day, a woman filed a report with the Cairo Police Department alleging that on December 13, 2019, Reese came into her room at the Grady Lodge and punched her in the face, fracturing her eye socket, and demanded to know where his methamphetamine was located,” the release reads.

According to the D.A., Reese was taken into custody on December 19, 2019, and he subsequently admitted that the brown bag belonged to him and that he planned to distribute the methamphetamine.

Reese was sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Reese has prior convictions for burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, both in the Superior Court of Tift County, according to the press release.

“The unusual facts in this case do not diminish the serious consequences repeat offenders face when caught trafficking methamphetamine in the Middle District of Georgia,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Our office, working alongside our law enforcement partners, will work to bring to justice those who repeatedly break the law and endanger citizens by their criminal actions.”

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