Controversial Lottery Winner Found DeadAmanda Clayton Died From Apparent Overdose About A Year After Win |
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The latest anecdote of the lottery throwing someone’s life into muck is that of Amanda Clayton, a controversial $1 million jackpot winner who fell into hot water after continuing to collect governmental assistance despite grabbing the huge payday.
The 25-year-old died from an apparent drug overdose about a week ago.
A lawyer for Clayton told the Associated Press that the stress from her fraud charges was “heavy.” She had received probation for the welfare-related crimes.
Clayton was not cut off from her benefits after the win because the state didn’t know about it.
In a Tuesday blog from Don McNay, an author who follows lottery-winner struggles, he said that “[g]etting the lottery money added rocket fuel to her problems.”
There have been many stories over the years of lottery winners finding misery and destruction, sometimes leading to an untimely and tragic death.
Another one of those is the case of Abraham Shakespeare, who won $16.9 million in 2006 and was found dead four years later, buried in a person’s backyard. An individual charged in the homicide will stand trial this November in the state of Florida.
Other winners who have died in connection to their sudden influx of cash include Billie Bob Harrell Jr. ($31 million in 1997), Jeffrey Dampier ($20 million in 1996) and Ibi Roncaioli ($5 million in 1991), according to a March 2012 piece from The Daily Beast.
Then there’s the financial horror story of Jack Whittaker, who took home a staggering $315 million in 2002 but later said that he wishes he had torn up the winning ticket.
Just this year, the lottery was taken into cyberspace, as Illinois authorized its lotto to sell tickets online. In December 2011, the United States government clarified a decades-old law in order to give states the ability to pad their sales via the web.
Lotteries have gained acceptance from the residents of states because a large chunk of the money the public loses goes to “good causes,” said a panel at the recently completed Global Gaming Expo (G2E) held in Las Vegas.
State lotteries could also play a big role in blocking a federal online poker bill.
Photo of Amanda Clayton, via allvoices.com
Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus
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