Fannin County Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Meth Trafficking in Cherokee County

FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. — A Fannin County man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after a Cherokee County jury convicted him of trafficking more than a kilogram of methamphetamine.

Ricky Dwight Wright, 39, received the sentence Wednesday following a trial in which jurors deliberated for approximately 15 minutes before returning a guilty verdict Tuesday.

Because Wright was sentenced as a recidivist offender, he was also ordered to pay a mandatory $1 million fine, the state-required penalty for trafficking more than 400 grams of methamphetamine.

The case stems from a traffic stop conducted around 1:15 a.m. on March 4, 2025.

A Woodstock police officer stopped an Acura sedan traveling north on Interstate 575 after discovering that an individual associated with the vehicle had an active warrant.

During the stop, authorities said a passenger attempted to conceal and discard a drawstring bag.

Officers recovered the bag and found approximately 175 grams of methamphetamine packaged inside plastic grocery bags.

A K-9 unit was deployed to the scene, and the dog alerted officers to additional narcotics inside the vehicle.

Police discovered a second grocery bag hidden beneath towels on the rear floorboard containing approximately 993 grams of methamphetamine.

In total, law enforcement seized more than one kilogram of the drug.

Assistant District Attorney Leland J. McElveen Jr. presented testimony from six law enforcement officers during the trial. Prosecutors also introduced dash camera footage of the traffic stop, photographs of the seized drugs, and text messages from Wright’s phone that referenced a trip from North Georgia to Atlanta to obtain narcotics.

District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said the sentence reflects both the severity of the crime and Wright’s criminal history.

“This sentence reflects both the seriousness of his crime and his continued pattern of criminal behavior,” Treadaway said. “Thanks to the vigilance of law enforcement and the jury’s verdict, a repeat offender who was trafficking a significant amount of methamphetamine will no longer be able to poison our community.”

Wright was the final defendant sentenced in the case. Two co-defendants, also from Fannin County, previously entered guilty pleas.

Ashley Nicole Hughes, 36, was sentenced in November 2025 to 15 years in confinement and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine after pleading guilty to trafficking and tampering with evidence.

James Lovejoy, 37, was sentenced in January 2026 as a recidivist offender to 30 years, with 25 years to be served in confinement, along with a $1 million fine.