Cases Of Lottery Winners Losing It All

We are often envious of lottery winners, wishing we were in their place instead. After all, who wouldn´t be happy striking it rich overnight? Earning the lottery would allow us to splurge on items we wouldn´t otherwise dream of obtaining. And, it would finally allow us to quit our day jobs! Here´s an amazing fact for you—there is more probability of you getting struck by lightning than of you winning the lottery. And, contrary to popular opinion, you are actually not better off with a lottery win as more than 70 percent of all lottery winners end up going broke within seven years!

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Winning the lottery isn´t all great news as Barry Shell from Crampton, Canada would tell you. Back in July 2009, he won a lottery of $4,337, 298. He was then asked to pose for the camera with the cheque in hand. However, all that did was bring him attention. It turned out that the lottery winners in Ontario, Canada, all had to go through a security check before picking up their winnings. And, thus, the police found out that Barry Shell had an arrest warrant on him for failing to appear to face six-year-old theft charges! Barry did attempt to have the old charges reduced and dropped, but the courts didn´t let it happen!

There are some lottery winners who tried to be smart with their winnings and decided to invest in their businesses instead and a perfect case in point is Ronnie Music Jr. Back in 2015, the man won the Georgia lottery and collected $3 million. Instead of retiring, he decided to invest in his meth-business. He used half a million dollars alone on purchasing 11 pounds of 80 percent pure crystal meth. Only a few months after winning the lottery, he was apprehended by the police in October 2015 for the possession of four pounds of meth. In 2017, he was given a jail sentence of 21 years!

When you win a lottery, friends, and family, more often than not, tend to become enemies and such was the case with Bud Post. Bud´s worst nightmares came true when he won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988. Only a year after the winnings, he found himself in a debt of a million dollars. His ex-girlfriend successfully sued him for a portion of the winnings, his brother hired a hitman to kill him, and his family members coerced him into investing in their businesses. Bud Post also had a run-in with the law after he fired a gun at a bill collector. These days, he lives off social security checks in a trailer park home.