Home Money Consciousness 15 Lottery Winners Who Blew It All Fast

15 Lottery Winners Who Blew It All Fast

Simi July 11, 2020

Playing the lottery is the ultimate sign of being human. Even in the darkest hours, we tend to have a substantial amount of hope stored in our minds. That’s what drives us when all other motivating factors are lost. When it comes to our financial state, many of hope to get rich by any means necessary. This drives us to be productive and inventive. Some create startups with associates, some work hard to get a college degree and some choose more unorthodox ways. What are these ways exactly?

Well, it’s usually playing on luck. When it comes to luck, there is no better way of earning money than the lottery. You fill out a ticket or buy a scratch card for a measly amount of money and hope for a miracle. Often, during our lifetime, we spend more money on tickets that we are actually aware. But for some people, that expense gets multiplied by a lucky instance.

Winning the lottery isn’t just sheer joy and ecstasy – it’s a lot of pressure on one person. Suddenly, you realize that everything you ever wanted is now a possibility. No habit or idea seems bad to you and you tend to get lost. A staggering statistic says that 70% of all lottery jackpot winners go broke in a mere seven-year period. That’s not even losing the money they won, it’s flat out bankruptcy!

The bottom line is that many people lose control and spend their money fast. But what about the worst of the worst? We’ve done some researched and decided to bring you the 15 people who lost their winnings way too fast. Let’s take a look at the experiences. Some decisions are flat out idiotic and will put a smile on your face.

15. Ronnie Music Jr.

What happens when you put a lot of money into the hands of a convicted felon? Chaos is the most likely answer. Ronnie Music Jr. had recently got out of prison at the age of 44 and won the lottery.

The three million dollars have him fertile soil for the planting of the seeds of his criminal plans. Spoiler alert: No, he didn’t buy a bungalow for retirement. Then, what did he do?

His lifelong dream was to have enough money to run a drug dealing operations. That, combined with lottery winnings is never a good combination. First, he wanted to purchase some crystal meth, then make some on his own when the business starts taking off. His first move was to invest $500.000 into 80 pounds of pure crystal meth.

He was busted and his operation ruined. Although he was sentenced to 21 years, he continued to be a troublemaker. The operation continued into jail, as he organized drones to fly in phones so the inmates could run a crystal meth dealing operation. Too much Breaking Bad, huh?

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14. Abraham Shakespeare

This is the clear example as to why not everyone is fit to win the lottery. Abraham was practically illiterate and was living a peaceful life in Florida. Then, all of a sudden, he found himself winning $30 million on the lottery.

Most of his family and friends wanted loans, which, of course, they never paid back. Within one or two years, the most of the money was gone. However, that’s when the troubles only started.

He met a blonde woman by the name of Dorice Moore. She introduced herself as a friend and seduced poor Abraham into letting her get rid of all the people who were leeching off of him. Instead, she helped herself to a few million of his money.

Abraham disappeared all of a sudden and people were getting suspicious. Turns out, his body was found lying underneath a block of concrete in the backyard of Moore’s new house. She was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of the innocent man. Be careful with whom you share your winnings with!

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13. Martyn and Kay Tott

There is nothing worse than being swindled for your money, but there are things that come pretty close. In fact, you can say that there is one thing that is worse (at least in our minds) than losing your money – not being able to claim it.

Martyn and Kay Tott had that problem when they recognized their numbers during a draw in 2001. First, they were ecstatic beyond belief, before noticing something was missing – the ticket.

Thankfully, Martyn remembered the exact store, the date and the time when he bought the ticket. With that info, he went to the headquarters of the lottery corporation, in Camelot, Britain. The corporation reviewed Martyn and Kay’s proposal and concluded that they weren’t lying at all. There was only one problem.

According to the rules of the corporation, you must make a claim for the lost ticket in a period of 30 days. Sadly, weeks have passed and the couple has been left with the knowledge of missing out on $5 million. Who even loses their lottery ticket? They should have paid attention.

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12. Ibi Roncaioli

Winning the lottery is something the straw that can divide people and make them quarrel and much worse. It’s often that you say that a relationship is tested when a sudden and large amount of money enters the picture. In rare cases, it may get really ugly. This is what happened to Ibi Roncaioli and her husband, the respected Dr. Joseph Roncaioli.

In 1991, Ibi and her husband were living lavishly in their suburb home in Toronto. Things were about to get even better when she won $5 million on the lottery, right? Technically, yes, but there was one crucial problem – Ibi didn’t tell her family at all. To make things even worse, she gave $2 million away to her illegitimate son from a previous marriage, which she also hid from Joseph!

Ibi started taking drugs and drinking but kept everything hidden from Joseph. In 2003, she managed to squander even their savings in the process. Joseph got suspicious and found out about the lottery winnings.

Later that year, Ibi was found dead in her house. Although there wasn’t much evidence, Joseph was convicted of the murder. The old gynecologist served seven years in prison for it.

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11. Michael Carroll

We often hear jokes about winning the lottery and spending the money on hookers and cocaine, right? Of course, but that is just the experience of many people yearning to let go when they can’t.

Of course, many of us would decide to have some fun, but cocaine and hookers is just taking it overboard. When you want to stop, you realize it’s too late. Michael Carroll is that guy, having the bad luck of winning the lottery as a 19-year-old garbage man.

He grew up poor and had to fight for everything he had. Normally, he was sick of such behavior and wanted to have some fun for a change. After buying gifts for his family and friends, he quickly descended into the Bermuda triangle of all partying – cocaine, hookers and gambling.

In the blink of an eye, he lost control and after seven years, he was almost on the street. In order to educate others, he shared his story in multiple interviews, motivating people to do smart things with their winnings.

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10. Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr.

If someone asked you if it’s possible to blow through $115.000.000 in just a few years, would you believe it? Of course not, because it would surely take some inhuman creativity to spend all that money in such a short time period. Mr. Whittaker Jr. won that much money after he had to give up more to the state because of lottery taxes.

If you’re judging him by his first move, it was actually a noble one. He gave 10% to charity and even started his own, the Jack Whittaker Foundation.

After that moment, everything had gone downhill and he was left penniless after less than four years. He kept cash in the car and got robbed out of a little less than one million.

Slowly, he became addicted to going to strip clubs and spending insane amounts of money on lap dances and alcohol. $2.100 a week went on his granddaughter, who used to fuel a drug habit that killed her. In many interviews, Whittaker says that he wish he never won the cursed money.

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9. Urooj Khan

Do you think it’s possible to lose $1 million in one day? Of course, but it would have to some pretty ingenious way of blowing it all. Murder would be one way of saying that someone lost everything. It’s always risky to win the lottery if you have a lot of greedy family members that are just waiting to rip your winnings to shreds. Poor Urooj Khan suffered this sad fate.

When this dry cleaner from Chicago won his $1 million, he was ecstatic. This was on the 19^th of July. Only the next day, he was found dead, with the first assumptions being that he died of natural causes.

Extensive investigation revealed that the 46-year-old man was poisoned with cyanide. The main suspects were his parents, who have entered a legal battle with his widow and stepdaughter.

The case is still open and there is active investigation. His sister recently said that she was appalled by how slow the police were in tackling the problems in the case. Hopefully, the wrongdoer goes to jail and the family gets justice.

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8. Bud Post

It isn’t without a reason that many financial advisers urge people not to tell anyone about their lottery winnings. The first and most important thing to do is not yell around the neighborhood about your winnings.

There are people who manage large amounts of money for a living and they know what to do far better than you ever will. Bud Post made the mistake of telling everyone about his $16.2 million jackpot.

Everything started out normally – people started coming to him asking for money, even though they were barely acquaintances. Bud was kindhearted and wanted to do everyone a favor. His ex-girlfriend saw the opportunity and sued him for a substantial amount. His own brother hired a hitman so he could inherit the money! Slowly but surely, his fund was melting in front of his very own eyes.

By financing stupid business ideas by his relatives, Bud fell into debt and lost everything. Nowadays, he is living off of welfare and food stamps in a trailer park. The moral of the story is not to try and be an angel. Money changes people and everyone has the tendency of becoming greedy and wicked.

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7. Billy Bob Harrell Jr.

It seems that people who don’t have friends or aren’t on good terms with family always seem to make smart investments with lottery winnings. These lucky people think of their family as the biggest support possible, but only get greedy requests in return.

Money and kindness don’t have anything in common. Nobody is entitled to someone’s lottery winnings just because they exist in their lives. Mr. Harrell’s story is a sad and tragic one.

Billy was a former preaches living in Texas. He refused to give up, so he found a job as a bag boy in a Home Depot store. His luck seemingly changed when he was the winner of a $31 million lottery jackpot. People came swarming in, asking for money for houses, vacations and pretty much everything else. Nobody ever returned one cent of the loans and he was left high and dry.

Less than 20 months after his 1997 lottery success, Billy committed suicide out of desperation, severely depressed and disappointed. Lottery winnings can indeed change your life, but sometimes it can be for the worse.

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6. Willie Hunt

Many financial experts and sociologists claim that the lottery is perhaps the worst way of getting rich. The ticket doesn’t pick its winner – anyone can get their hands on the money. Even people with less than impeccable track records can suddenly become rich.

Those who aren’t acquainted with being responsible can cause disaster if given a large amount of money. Willie Hunt didn’t ask for his $3.1 million jackpot win and it ruined his life.

Unfortunately for him, he was already addicted to crack cocaine. When you give $3.1 million to a crackhead, nothing good happens. Less than two years into his lottery win, he was on his last few hundred and in the process of divorcing his wife. He smoked even more crack than ever before and it literally drove him insane.

The culmination of his tragic story was when he was so high on crack and many other drugs, that he shot a woman in a motel woman. With the poor lady succumbing to her injuries, Willie was convicted of the crime and imprisoned. For some, the money can be the ultimate savior and the demise that is imminent.

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5. Denise Rossi

There are certain laws that require full financial disclosure of assets during divorce proceedings. This keeps disgruntled spouses from keeping large assets from their former significant others.

Despite the existence of these laws, many people think that they can bypass them and keep their money a secret. Denise Rossi tried this after winning the California state lottery jackpot. It backfired miserably and she got what she asked for.

Denise was married to her husband Thomas for 25 years. They never had any quarrels or problems between themselves. When Denise asked for a divorce in January 1997, Thomas was surprised and shocked, but decided to accept it in order to see what’s up. It turns out that Denise won $1.3 million and wanted to keep the money from her husband.

Thomas was awarded the entire sum by the judge, mostly because Denise violated financial disclosure laws. She even admitted that she wanted to keep the win a secret from her estranged husband. For wanting to swindle her once beloved husband, Denise was smacked in the face by justice.

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4. Lara and Roger Griffiths

Even normal people can get struck by the lottery craze. Money doesn’t “change” you, it just brings out the deepest and darkest desires that were always within you. There is not science in here, just the notion of anything being possible just because you’re rich.

If not under control, those little binges can soon be the death of any relationship or marriage. Lara and Roger Griffiths were torn apart by their recklessness and greed.

When they won their $2.37 million, they were enjoying their comfortable life and 14-year marriage. The victory changed everything, as they suddenly went crazy for expensive cars, tattoos, plastic surgeries and much more. Nobody could stop them, not even their two little girls, who saw that mommy and daddy were out of control. What ensued was a disaster.

They made bad investments, didn’t analyze the market and just didn’t care about their future. Not only did they squander the winnings, they ruined the little comfort they had previously. Such was the fate of the Griffiths family, driven by their urge to live lavishly.

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3. Barry Shell

We often like to read about lottery winners because they aren’t superheroes or people with extraordinary abilities. They are just either lucky or persistent after years of playing the same numbers. After winning the lottery, they often seem like incredible protagonists. Take Barry Shell for example. The Toronto native struck gold with a $4.4 million jackpot. However, he could expect what would ensure after taking a photo with the check.

As he was exiting the lottery headquarters, the police immediately apprehended him and took him to the station. It turns out he was wanted for not appearing in court due to theft charges. How did the cops find out in the first place?

Well, the lottery always reports any winners to the police, who check their past and their records. If something suspicious comes up, the men in blue come knocking at their door.

Barry tried in vain to have the charges dropped, but the courts simply didn’t allow him. He was able to receive the money, but most of it went to lawyers that were needed for his case. His fate is unknown. Such cases are a living testament to karma coming to bite you on the behind sooner or later.

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2. Amanda Clayton

Amanda was living a troubled life before lucking out on lottery winnings. Since 2010, she has been living on welfare and struggling to make ends meet.

Since the lottery records are public, news outlets and the police decided to do a little bit of digging after her $1 million win. It turns out that this 24-year-old woman from Detroit was doing something really nasty.

Despite winning seven figures, she was still receiving welfare checks. After being busted, she tried the excuse of needing them. Who needs food stamps and welfare checks even after getting a million dollars? The courts didn’t want to listen to her excuses, as she was sentenced to nine months probation and was forced to pay back all the money she stole.

An even grimmer fate awaited her. Only one year later, she was found dead in a dangerous part of town, dead from a heroin overdose. Her troubles didn’t get solved by her money, it only made them bigger and bigger.

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1. Dennis Elwell

Dennis’s story is perhaps the most tragic of all. He won around $100.000 in the lottery and wanted to move to Spain with his wife.

She, of course, said yes and everything went well in the beginning. After a few months, he wanted to go home, but his wife didn’t want to hear it. She refused to go home and notified him via text message.

He got his old job and everything went back to normal, with his wife remaining in sunny Spain. However, one morning, he just collapsed in his workplace, after notifying that he drank cyanide. It turns out that he loved his wife so much that he simply couldn’t live without her.

His wife even said that he tried taking his life at least three times before he returned to England. This story is a grim reminder that money can’t buy love.

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