A 68-year-old Cherokee County. Georgia man, Michael Ferrell Price, also known as “Cheese,” has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for drug trafficking and illegal firearms possession offenses. The charges stemmed from an investigation that uncovered a methamphetamine operation, a vast cache of illegal weapons, explosive devices, and an active moonshine still on his Ball Ground property.

United States District Judge Eleanor L. Ross sentenced Price on August 21, 2025, to 87 months (seven years and three months) in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release. Price had pleaded guilty on May 7, 2025, to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user.

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the investigation into Price began in September 2024, when agents with the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (CMANS) received information that Price, a known drug user, was trafficking methamphetamine from his 90-year-old mother’s home in eastern Cherokee County.

On October 22, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the property. What they found was a complex criminal enterprise operating from a backwoods shed and an adjacent structure. Agents recovered more than three ounces of highly pure crystal methamphetamine, several gallons of homemade moonshine, and dozens of illegal explosive devices.

The search also revealed an arsenal of over 150 firearms. Among these weapons were two machineguns, a short-barreled rifle, a privately manufactured firearm lacking a serial number, five firearm silencers, and a stolen revolver. Federal law prohibited Price from possessing any firearms or explosives due to his years-long abuse of methamphetamine.

The case was a collaborative effort, investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad. The Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office provided valuable assistance. U.S. Attorney Hertzberg prosecuted the case.