5 People Who Won The Lottery And Blew It All

Sooner or later, somebody is going to come into a lot of money.

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing was up to a world-record $1.5 billion, with a cash payout of nearly $900 million. And if nobody wins that, the total will only continue to increase, shattering payout records and eventually landing in some lucky person’s lap.

• SEE ALSO: Powerball Jackpot Climbs to $1.5 Billion, What To Do If You Win

But maybe that person won’t be so lucky.

The web is full of stories about big winners turning suffering some bigger losses. With all the hoopla underway and all those losing tickets being torn up in frustration, we’ve compiled a few that just might put those “losses” in perspective.

David Lee Edwards

Edwards, a convicted felon, won $27 million in 2001 as part of a split $208 million jackpot. He immediately bought a mansion, expensive cars and even a private jet.

But he didn’t manage his money at all, and he and his wife ended up living in “a squalid storage unit contaminated with human feces within five years,” according to the Daily Mail.

His wife left him, and he died broke at 58.

Callie Rogers

The British teen won £1.875 million in 2003 — worth about $2.8 million at the time.

Rogers said she would be careful with her money but ended up spending wild sums of money on cocaine and breast implant surgeries. She said she hoped it would help her forget about being sexually assaulted as a child.

Instead, she went broke and attempted suicide four times.

Ten years later, though, she said she was happier than ever with no more money and was going to school to become a nurse.

Ibi Roncaioli

Roncaioli’s husband, Joseph, was found guilty of murdering his wife 12 years after she won a $5 million jackpot in 1991.

She allegedly gave away $800,000 each to a son they had together and another who lived with them. But $2 million more allegedly went to a son she had with a third man Joseph didn’t know about.

Ibi was found dead with needle marks and six ounces of alcohol in her system.

William “Bud” Post

Post lived a particularly tortured life after he won $16.2 million in 1988.

His brother hired somebody to kill him to collect inheritance, his landlord sued and won a third of his winnings, and he went to prison for firing a shotgun at a debt collector.

“Once I’m no longer a lottery winner, people will leave me alone. That’s all I want. Just peace of mind,” he said.

He died in 2006.

Denise Rossi

Thomas Rossi was stunned when his wife of 25 years suddenly filed for divorce in 1996. He found out that 11 days before their divorce she had won $1.3 million in the California lottery.

Thomas Rossi sued, and a judge ordered that Denise turn over every penny of her lottery winnings over to him for violating asset disclosure laws.

“Moral of story: It pays to be honest from the beginning,” Thomas’ attorney said.