MOULTRIE, Ga. — A Georgia man who pleaded guilty last week to federal charges was a major meth supplier who distributed the drug widely — including to a Moultrie ring broken up in 2017 — from behind bars.

Jose Calderon, 40, used a contraband cell phone to conduct his drug business, distributing kilos of methamphetamine all over the state, according to U.S. Attorney Charles E. Peeler’s office. Among his customers was Colquitt County resident Boris Fuller, who headed up a Moultrie distribution ring and was given a 30-year federal prison sentence in October.

Calderon pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Calderon faces a minimum sentence of 15 years when he is sentenced on April 11, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Calderon, who is an undocumented immigrant, also faces deportation.

Calderon has prior convictions in Georgia courts that include trafficking between 201 and 400 grams of cocaine and trafficking more than 400 grams of cocaine in Clayton County, and trafficking more than 400 grams of methamphetamine in Gwinnett County, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

An investigation by local, state and federal authorities made some 42 arrests in the meth ring in the Moultrie area beginning in May 1, 2017, with the last eight charged in June and July of 2018. All of the 34 arrested earlier have entered guilty pleas and been sentenced.

Authorities estimated that the group was responsible for the distribution of more than 20 kilograms — about 44 pounds — of the substance. About 30 of the 42 were in the Moultrie area, with others in surrounding areas and parts of Florida.

Fuller received the longest sentence, and others who pleaded guilty to distribution charges were sentenced to federal prison terms of from eight years to 19 years.

The federal system has no parole, so inmates serve nearly the entirety of the given sentence.