Authorities announced Wednesday that an elderly man who used his 2010 lottery winnings to run a drug empire from his cottage with his son and two accomplices has been sentenced to prison.
John Eric Spiby, 80, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in England after an investigation uncovered counterfeit pills worth up to $400 million, Greater Manchester Police said. His son, John Colin Spiby, 37, was sentenced to nine years.
“They operated a fully industrialized drug manufacturing company capable of producing millions of counterfeit tablets containing a highly dangerous substance,” Alex Brown, Detective Inspector of the Serious Organized Crime Group who led the investigation, said in a statement.
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“The number of tablets we recovered – along with the sophisticated machines – showed how deeply entrenched this group was in the illicit drug supply chain.”
Local UK affiliate LBC reported that in 2010, at about the age of 65, Spiby won the National Lottery and collected £2.4 million, equivalent to about $3.3 million in 2026.
John Eric Spiby (left) and son John Colin Spiby have been running a huge drug empire since about 2021. (Greater Manchester Police)
During sentencing, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC told LBC that, “despite your lottery winnings, you continued to lead your life of crime beyond the normal retirement age.”
Sometime between November 2021 and May 2022, Spiby outfitted his cottage behind his home with an “industrial-scale tablet production setup capable of producing tens of thousands of tablets per hour,” police said. According to a court hearing, they were also able to “hide” his laboratory by freezing the windows, LBC reported.
The organization is said to have produced counterfeit diazepam tablets, also known as Valium, laced with etizolam, a substance banned in the US and normally prescribed for insomnia and anxiety. In high doses, etizolam can cause severe central nervous system depression, potentially leading to unconsciousness, respiratory failure, and death.
The group also facilitated and supplied firearms, including AK-47s, an Uzi, Tec-9s, a Scorpion, a Grand Power pistol, silencers and ammunition, police said.
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A neighborhood in Wigan, Greater Manchester, in 2021. (Historical Archives of England / Heritage Images)
In the early stages of the operation in August 2020, the group reportedly operated “under the guise of a legitimate business” by setting up a fake company along with a website advertising tablet presses, mixers, packaging machines and powder supplements.
During the operation, the suspects rented a shipping container to store materials and millions of counterfeit tablets awaiting distribution. However, agents intercepted them in April 2022 and found a vehicle containing 2.6 million counterfeit diazepam tablets with an estimated street value of between $1.4 million and $7 million.
The following month, a warrant led to the seizure of weapons, ammunition, cash, machinery, counterfeit medicines and raw materials.
Police estimated the crime ring was producing drugs with a potential street value of about $80 million to $400 million.
Lee Ryan Drury (left) and Callum Dorian were sentenced to nine and 12 years respectively. (Greater Manchester Police)
Of the other two accomplices, Callum Dorian, 35, was jailed for 12 years in September 2024, while Lee Ryan Drury, 45, was sentenced to nine years.
The four members were charged with charges including conspiracy to manufacture and supply Class C drugs, conspiracy to supply firearms, possession of firearms and ammunition and perverting the course of justice.
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“These four individuals showed absolutely no regard for human life or public safety,” Brown said. “All they were interested in was lining their own pockets with significant financial gain.”
