Ricky Lamont "Money Mont" Matthews was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty on two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the 2009 death of Calvin Kentrell Banks.

Matthews, 28, was initially facing 21 charges, including malice murder and cruelty to children in the second degree, however a jury acquitted him on those charges. Newton County Senior Superior Court Judge John Ott allowed prosecutors to tell jurors of a prior armed robbery conviction in Michigan that had similarities to the one committed on Appia Way on June 29, 2009.

Because of that prior conviction, the guilty verdict in Matthews’ case falls under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which "imposes a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole on defendants who are convicted of a serious violent federal felony when they have two or more prior serious violent felonies or one or more serious violent felony convictions and one or more serious drug offense convictions."

According to lead investigator Jason Griffin, Matthews came to Georgia to work on his rap career and after the shooting fled to Michigan where he was picked up by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office. The motive of the shooting was drug-related and allegedly involved a second man, Larry Grisom Jr., who will face trial at a later date.