Posted on 07/26/2004 10:37:17 AM PDT by UnklGene
Man wins Hoosier Lotto jackpot two days after divorce from cheating wife finalized -
By Ben Jennings, THG News
July 25, 2004
Until last Saturday, 2004 had been the worst year of Randy Fletcher’s life.
On a cold mid-January day, the 29 year old Brownstown resident took a half-day off of work due to a severe case of diarrhea, only to find his wife of four years, Tara, in bed with a neighbor.
Two months later, he wrecked his mint-condition 1956 Chevy that he had spent three years carefully restoring when a deer ran out in front of him.
May brought even more heartache; Fletcher’s 12 year-old German Shepherd Molly was diagnosed with cancer and had to be put to sleep.
Fletcher, who works as a union electrician, felt that his life was cursed after losing his house and most of his life savings in the divorce proceedings that were finalized on July 15.
That is until July 17, when his life changed forever. Fletcher purchased five dollars worth of Hoosier Lottery computer picks for that night’s drawing, like he had done every Wednesday and Saturday for the past several years.
When he checked his ticket numbers against those in the Sunday Indianapolis Star, he had to do a double take—the third row of numbers on his ticket matched those in the newspaper: 5-15-27-37-39-46!
Randy Fletcher had just won the $1 million jackpot.
“I was in complete shock for several hours,” said Fletcher, “It took me several minutes to catch my breath. It was the most unbelievable and amazing feeling I have ever had, especially after all that had happened this year.”
Fletcher says he plans to use the approximately $289,000 he will be taking home after accepting the cash option and paying federal, state, and local taxes to get back on his feet. “I am going to buy a new house, probably get Harley, and a new puppy, probably another (German) Shepherd. Get a whole new fresh start on life. I also want to head to Cancun for a few days this winter.”
The life of Randy Fletcher is a prime example of how every cloud has a silver lining. When asked what advice he has for anyone else whose life is in shambles, Fletcher advises, “Just keep plugging away. Sooner or later things will look up. I am a prime example of that.”
How do you spell relief? REVENGE
I'd question their use of the word "satire." This seems more like a fake story--one that reads real and then is discovered to be fictional. "Satire" at least employs humor and an attempt to mimic something (cf. The Onion), whereas this site just writes a fake story and calls it satire.
She'll sue, saying he "knew" he was going to win and held putting in the winning numbers until after the divorce, thus winning after they were divorced, but he "chose" those numbers before the divorce was final, so she should get half. Some leftist judge will award her half.
With this guy's luck even $289,000.00 after taxes might be a death warrent. $$1,000,000.00 would be for sure. I wish him well though.
A great story! Wonder how long before the ex's lawyers come after him?
She will either say she loaned him the money and that it was her half or...
She will say he owed her money and he must have used the money from what he owed her to buy this ticket, therefore the winnings belong to her and his neighbor that she was screwing.
She'll follow up with "Vote for Kerry's just to keep this extra surreal.
He lost a lying, cheating wife and gained a million bucks. I'd say he made out very well.
...or her blood-sucking divorce attorney.
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They are not a site in the same vein as the Onion, so this may be a real story.
They use real and fake stories, both.
$289K after taxes on a cash payout probably $440K is reasonable. The cash pay would be around there, I think.
But in the karma category, a faithful wife, a devoted pet and a great hobby are worth more than a million bucks.
Particularly after taxes.
GOD BLESS AMERICA buddy .... glad someone had a good experience :D
PS ... tell him to marry russian next time.
one million anutiy for 20 years OR
acccept 1/2 in a lump sum and pay the taxes all at once.
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You would think he would now have enough money for a REAL motorcycle.
The key is that he had been buying these tickets routinely for the previous years of his marriage. The tickets he bought on the 17th were just a continuation of that pattern. So his wife (at the time) lost the money from the lottery ticket buys, so she should have a share of the winnings.
To put it another way, if he had not bought tickets for all of those years, would he have bought the ticket for the July 17th drawing? Since his wife (at the time) tolerated (or perhaps even encouraged) his lottery playing, she contributed to the fact that he bought the winning ticket, so she should have a share of the winnings.
And, just perhaps, he bought the ticket prior to the date and our when his divorce became final. If that is the case, the ticket is an asset of the divorce, and should be divided equitably, so she should have her share of the winnings.
Failing all that, the judge could always come up with...
An equitable solution to the question of division of property would give her part of the winnings, because she has so little and he would hardly miss the money, since he's rollin' in dough...
................
So, how'd I do?
In other news, It has been confirmed that the United Nations will send poll watchers to the United States to police Americans voting.
No. No it isn't. What kind of idiots write this stuff?
"She'll sue . . ."
'But Judge! '5-15-27' is my birth date and '37-39-46' are my .. uh... you know, my measurements. They are MY numbers and I deserve half the jackpot.'
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