Kentucky Man Who Won $167M Powerball Ends up in Jail

If you have been sifting through news headlines to find proof that lottery wins do not turn your life around, nor who you truly are, then you might feel a sort of vindication when you hear the story of James Farthing.

Lottery Winner Had a Long Rap Sheet – He Made It Worse

If the name sounds familiar, that is because Farthing was at the Kentucky Lottery office on Monday, posting for the celebratory photo-op with his mother and girlfriend. Like a good son, he said he would split his reward with his mother. He has since found himself in jail.

Farthing may be Kentucky’s pride, bringing in the state’s largest Powerball jackpot at $167 million, but this does not give him a free pass so far as law enforcement is involved. On Tuesday, Farthing reportedly assaulted an officer of the law.

The incident took place at a hotel where an altercation had taken place before the officer intervened. The officer tried to break things up, but he was first punched and then kicked in the face. The officer further alleges that Farthing resisted arrest and was uncooperative while being taken into custody.

Farthing has been charged with battery of a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer, and battery, as well as violating parole, and things may turn ugly for him very quickly. Farthing already has a long file on him, with the man’s court records including convictions of tampering with evidence, organized crime involvement, drug charges, theft, and receiving stolen property.

The $167 million prize was supposed to change the man’s life around, but his long rap sheet and most recent antics might land him in fresh trouble that money may not be able to buy his way out of.

Not a Good Mother’s Day

The altercation was reportedly caused by Farthing hitting a hotel guest at the TradeWinds Resort at St. Pete Beach. When the police officer tried to de-escalate and was assaulted in turn, Farthing tried to flee the scene but was apprehended instead.

Farthing’s girlfriend, almost anecdotally called Jacqueline Fightmaster, aged 42, was inebriated when medics arrived at the scene. She was brawling, screaming, and making incoherent statements while the fallout of the events was taking place.

At the time when Farthing and his mother, Linda Grizzle, showed up at the lottery with Jacqueline, the mother had this to say: “It’s going to be a good Mother’s Day. This is going to pay off my debt.”

Perhaps not any longer.