Another lottery winner goes to prison
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under losers
Thomas Turnour won $10 million in the California SuperLotto game. Unfortunately, becoming wealthy doesn’t prevent you from doing stupid things.
Turnour was driving his pickup truck, drunk, and smashed into the back of a car that was stopped at a red light. The impact of the crash pushed the car into two other vehicles, and three people were killed.
Turnour pleaded guilty gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and also to the charge of causing injury while driving intoxicated. He was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.
In addition, he was sued by the victims’ families, and settled that lawsuit for more than $2 million.
Does it really take 9 months to prepare before claiming your winnings?
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
I guess you could say Lynn Hagerbrant is a very cautious person. In fact, she is so cautious and conservative that some people would be surprised to find out that she plays the lottery at all.
She knew she had won the jackpot of $8.8 million the day after the drawing. But she waited almost 9 months before turning in the winning ticket.
What did she do during that time?
Mostly, she consulted with her lawyers. She wanted to be sure she did the right thing so that her family’s estate was protected, and so that her children would be guaranteed added security for the future.
So much time had gone by since the drawing, lottery officials were wondering if the winning prize was going to go unclaimed (that has happened about a dozen times for the CT lottery in the past 25 years). They were even planning a new media campaign to try to find the winner. That’s when Hagerbrant stepped forward to make her claim.
She said most of the money will go into a “nest egg”. Maybe she has read some of the lottery horror stories on this blog, and learned from other people’s mistakes.
Hey, maybe this guy really DOES have a system for winning
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
If you were going to buy 4 lottery tickets, wouldn’t you buy 4 different sets of numbers? That way, you have 4 chances of winning in case only one of those sets came up.
The only exception to that would be if you knew what the winning numbers were going to be. Then, of course, you would buy only that set of numbers.
That is what Verlyn Adamson and Judith Adamson did. Verlyn says he has a system for predicting the winning Lottery numbers.
The couple went to 4 different convenience stores, and bought a ticket at each store. All 4 tickets purchased were for the same set of numbers, for the same drawing.
Their winnings total almost $1 million (and that’s after taxes). Not bad for a $4 investment.
If they wrote a book about how to win the lottery, it would be destined to be a big seller. You can’t argue with success.
Discount code: GonnaWin
Church refuses to accept lottery winnings from member
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under strange
First Baptist Orange Park, in Orange Park, Florida (a suburb of Jacksonville) won’t be benefiting from the lottery winnings of one of its members, Robert Powell.
Powell recently won $6 million in the Florida Lottery, and wanted to give $600,000 of his winnings (a 10% tithe) to his church. First Baptist Orange Park Pastor David Tarkington would not accept it. He also would not comment, citing confidentiality of members’ gifts. A safe assumption is that the church does not condone gambling, so does not want to accept gambling winnings as part of their support.
Most churches maintain a position against any form of gambling. But some would still accept the money from a member who won it that way.
“Wrong” lottery numbers won this couple the $3 million jackpot
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
Bobby Guffey has played the same numbers in the Indiana Lottery for years. The numbers represent various ages and birth dates.
Recently when he bought a ticket, it was dark inside the store and he didn’t have his reading glasses. When he got outside in the daylight, he realized that the last number he chose was an accidental 48 when he meant for it to be a 46.
That mistake won him $3 million.
Interestingly, after he realized he bought the wrong numbers, he went back inside the store to buy another ticket with the “right” numbers. That ticket won $1000, because it matched 5 of the 6 correct numbers.
“My wife says it pays to be blind,” Guffey said .
A little luck helps too.
These lottery winners will keep on working
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
Wouldn’t it be great to have a job that you love so much that you would keep working even if you didn’t have to? That seems to be the case with Bob and Pat Green.
Together, they own and operate a motorcycle repair garage. Bob says he will continue running the business for as long as he enjoys doing it.
The Greens recently won the UK Lotto jackpot, which means they are US$4.3 million richer.
Pat was at home the morning she discovered they had won. She immediately called Bob and told him. He kept working that full day like nothing had happened, though when he got home they did celebrate a bit.
The Greens have a 33-year old son, Stewart, who still lives at home with them. They are using their recent publicity to put out a plea for a wife for him. Jokingly, Bob said, “He is not engaged or married, so if there is anybody who can help him out, he’s looking for a rich lady with sporting interests.”
The Greens also plan to do some improvements on their home, and buy another motorcycle or two.
Newest millionaire keeps verbal agreement to share winnings with family
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
We often hear of stories about how sudden wealth tears a family apart. Sometimes seemingly loving people can become jealous and greedy when large sums of money enter the picture.
This story is quite different.
Barrie Edwards bought a couple of Pennsylvania Lottery tickets, and due to a promotion that was going on at the time, he got a free Powerball ticket as a bonus. That extra “freebie” ticket won him the $86.3 million jackpot.
A long time ago, the Edwards and the Funk families agreed that if any of them ever won a big jackpot, they would split the winnings among themselves. Barrie Edwards is keeping to that agreement.
He was watching the Powerball drawing on television when he learned he held the winning ticket. His wife, Jean, had already gone to bed but he ran and woke her up to tell her the good news. They then called his brother and sister-in-law to tell them about the win.
“At first they didn’t believe us,” said Jean. “Then they sort of went into shock.”
Here is how the money (taken in a lump sum, with taxes deducted) will be distributed:
Barrie and Jean Edwards: $17,064,882
Terry and Linda Edwards: $17,064,882
Robert and Elaine Funk: $1.4 million
Jeffrey and Donna Funk: $1.4 million
Melanie Funk: $1.4 million
Gerald and Lynn Hess: $1.4 million
K. Scott Edwards: $1.4 million
Ronald and Yvonne Edwards: $1.4 million
Oh, there was one other winner - the Turkey Hill convenience store where the ticket was printed also received a $100,000 prize.
Football player scores big with the lottery
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
Mike Eynon is an offensive lineman for the Ohio University Bobcats (in Athens, Ohio). His first score this season took place at a local convenience store recently.
Eynon bought a lottery ticket, and ended up matching 5 numbers - winning him a nice $250,000. Of course, after taxes, his actual check will be for about $172,000.
He is a senior at the university, and said he plans to put the money toward his schooling. He is only an occasional lottery player.
From Lottery multimillionaire to federal prisoner
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under losers
Rhoda Toth’s life has been like a roller coaster.
First, she won $13 million in the Florida Lottery. Then she behaved seemingly without benefit of the thought process; she and her husband filed false tax returns for several years to avoid paying federal income tax on the winnings (Toth’s husband, Alex, has since passed away).
When charged with the crime, Toth was determined to have no assets. The only electricity she had was from an extension cord hooked to their car engine (how does that even work?). Her claim was the standard one of lottery winners who don’t know how to manage their money: it was all spent on gambling, giving gifts to family and friends, and just generally living it up.
She has been ordered to pay the IRS back taxes of $1.1 million, at a rate of $100 per month (starting after her release from prison). Yeah, that’s a debt that will be paid of in no time.
Would you bet $50,000 for a chance to win $1 million? Yes, you would.
Posted by pctutor1 | Filed under winners
Judith Yap is hoping her luck holds out for a second win.
Last month Yap, a nurse, won $150,000 in the lottery where she lives (Illinois). In Illinois, you can turn in $30 of losing tickets to get your name in a drawing for the “Replay for Riches” promotion. Her name was drawn for the $150,000 prize.
But she now has a chance to multiply that prize. She and 6 others have the opportunity to risk one-third of their winnings (in her case, $50,000) for a 1-in-6 chance at $1 million.
Yap’s logic at taking the risk? “I think, what the heck. If you go to the final event, you’re still going to walk away with $100,000.” It’s hard to argue with that! She did admit that she will be nervous when the time comes though.
