Falling asleep in truck costs Georgia man 35 years after cops find $40K of meth

Deputies found a sleeping man inside a pickup truck on a Douglas County road in 2018.

That nap will cost the man the next 35 years of his freedom.

Gary Michael Courtney of Dallas was convicted of trafficking meth and possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime after about $40,000 worth of drugs was found in his pickup truck, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said. He was sentenced Monday to 35 years in prison.

On April 4, 2018, two men flagged down a deputy to let him know that a driver was asleep at the wheel of a truck in a right lane of Lee Road, the DA’s Office said in a news release. The deputy said Courtney appeared to be under the influence of drugs.

He was ordered to get out of the truck after the deputy discovered Courtney had an active warrant for his arrest, the release said. Courtney admitted to having a gun in the truck but denied having any other contraband.

However, a K-9 unit found a backpack near the passenger seat along with a pipe, a digital scale and a scoop, the release said. More than a pound of crystal meth was discovered inside the backpack. The drugs were estimated to be worth about $40,000.