An American man who won a staggering $167.3m (£126m) lottery jackpot found himself in jail days after he secured his landmark victory.
James Farthing, from Kentucky, bought his Powerball lottery ticket for only $2 (£1.51) and his win on April 26 was said to be the largest in the state's history. On promotional photographs, James and his mother, Linda Grizzle, were seen grinning from ear to ear as they held up the prize cheque.
On April 28, Linda said she was looking forward to a lavish Mother's Day while revealing her plans to pay off her debts. She also admitted that she "would have never dreamed" of such a win and confessed the reality of their windfall "hasn't sunken in yet".
However, just four days after James' gargantuan windfall, their world turned upside down as he was arrested following an alleged altercation at a hotel in Florida.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Circuit Court, provided by the sheriff's office, James was accused of assaulting another guest at the hotel. It was also alleged that he struck a police officer, who intervened and tried to calm the situation. Both James and his partner, Jaqueline Fightmaster, 42, were taken into custody, where she faced charges of disorderly intoxication.
Local media outlet FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported that he remains detained due to a parole violation stemming from a previous incident in Kentucky, while Jacqueline was released the following day.
Such cruel twists of fate involving life-changing lottery wins are not uncommon. Last year, Antonio Lopes Siqueira, a cattle farmer from Brazil, bagged a life-altering £24m in a lottery draw after spending less than £1 on a ticket, only to pass away mere weeks later. He won the enormous sum after selecting random numbers in the Mega-Sena lottery draw on November 9.
Antonio's winning numbers, 13, 15, 33, 43, 46 and 55, defied incredible odds of 50 million to one to secure the massive jackpot, catapulting him into the top 10 biggest cash winners in Brazil.
Following his windfall, Antonio underwent dental surgery but it ended in tragic circumstances. The winner, who had a history of hypertension and diabetes, went into cardiac arrest during the procedure and despite resuscitation attempts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Antonio was laid to rest in Jaciara, a town about 91 miles from his birthplace in Cuiabá, western Brazil.
Police chief Edison Pick said that the cause of death was uncertain. He said in a statement: "It has not yet been determined whether the cause of death was natural or induced. If it was a sudden illness, the clinic will not be held responsible. We are waiting for the results of the autopsy to clarify the facts."
No further update has been released to the public.
