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Six Times African-Americans Won The Lottery And Their Cautionary Tales Of Overnight Fortune

<p>Winning the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;&quest;s&equals;lottery&amp&semi;post&lowbar;type&equals;post" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>lottery<&sol;strong><&sol;a> should always be a joyous occasion&period; Still&comma; for many African-American winners&comma; it has led to more harm than good &&num;8211&semi; with several even losing their life over their winnings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the spirit of the newly won &dollar;2&period;04 billion Powerball grand prize in California&comma; <em>The Shade Room<&sol;em> takes an in-depth look at six Black lottery jackpot winners&comma; their stories of sudden wealth&comma; and the drama that came with it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And roughly 70 percent of all lottery winners&comma; white or Black&comma; lose it all within five years&comma; regardless of how much their luck earns them&comma; statistics show&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s important to note that a recent <em>The Shade Room<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;lottery-accused-of-systemic-racism-after-aggressively-marketing-powerball-in-black-brown-and-low-income-communities&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>report<&sol;strong><&sol;a> found that the lottery has been systemically racist in the way it aggressively markets itself in Black and low-income communities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Also&comma; <em>The Shade Room<&sol;em> does not encourage or endorse the lottery&comma;and urges anyone with a gambling problem to call 1-800-522-4700&sol;check out the <strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ncpgambling&period;org&sol;help-treatment&sol;national-helpline-1-800-522-4700&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">National Council on Problem Gambling<&sol;a><&sol;strong>&comma; where help can be found state by state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-twitter data-tweetid&equals;"1536606817375203329" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"480"><&sol;amp-twitter><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>1&period; Abraham Shakespeare<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The tragic story of Abraham Shakespeare began well enough&comma; after he found himself winning &dollar;31 million in the Florida state lottery back in 2006&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He opted for the lump-sum payment&comma; meaning he&&num;8217&semi;d take home less overall than if he had taken it in installments&comma; and ended up taking home &dollar;17 million after taxes&period; Still not too shabby&period; The drama began almost immediately for Mr&period; Shakespeare&comma; who friends and family described as loving&comma; generous and trustworthy&comma; perhaps to a fault&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Shortly after winning&comma; a co-worker accused him of stealing the winning ticket&comma; and he was taken to court&period; The judge ultimately ruled in Shakespeares&&num;8217&semi; favor and allowed him to keep his lottery winnings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite the newfound wealth&comma; or perhaps because of it&comma; Shakespeares&&num;8217&semi; life continued to spiral out of control&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He eventually befriended a white woman named Dorice Donegan&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Dee Dee” Moore&comma; who had promised to help him sort out his money so he wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t blow through it overnight&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But rather than help him&comma; she was secretly bilking money out of him and depleting his riches&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In 2009&comma; his family declared him missing&comma; and in January 2010&comma; his body was found buried under a concrete slab in the backyard of an acquaintance&period; Moore stood trial in Tampa in 2012 for the shooting death of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare sevenadoingd was eventually found guilty&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She&&num;8217&semi;s currently serving a life sentence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-facebook-page data-href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;SerendipitysHeist&sol;photos&sol;a&period;946418368764254&sol;946423868763704" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"400"><&sol;amp-facebook-page><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">2&period; Cynthia Stafford<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Stafford was struggling to raise five children and caring for her elderly father when she won a whopping &dollar;129 million in the California lottery in 2007&comma; according to Lotto Analyst&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Before winning&comma; she had described herself as a moderately regular lottery player&period; After taxes&comma; she took home a payout of &dollar;67 million&comma; according to reports at the time&period; The website reports that Stafford was generous &&num;8211&semi; perhaps to a fault &&num;8211&semi; and actually split the money with her father and brother equally&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She&comma; of course&comma; splurged a bit&comma; as any lottery winner would&period; She purchased a 4&comma;000 sq ft&period; home in upscale Pacific Palisades&period; Next&comma; she got a new car&comma; a used Mercedes-Benz R-class&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Stafford also hired a personal trainer and took a trip to Paris with some of her winnings before starting to give back and donating to charities she had admired for years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She has since become an entrepreneur and philanthropist within the Los Angeles area&period; Stafford is the CEO of her own production company&comma; Queen Nefertiti Productions&comma; and is actively involved with Geffen Playhouse &&num;8211&semi; a not-for-profit performing arts theater in L&period;A&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She admits she still plays the lottery to this day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;101909" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-101909" style&equals;"width&colon; 1140px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-101909" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;GettyImages-112912184-scaled&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1140" height&equals;"720" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-101909" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Pictured&colon; Jonathan Vargas&comma; 19&comma; of Gaston&comma; South Carolina &lpar;Photo by Erik Campos&sol;The State&sol;Tribune News Service via Getty Images&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">3&period; Jonathan Vargas<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>In 2008&comma; 19-year-old Jonathan Vargas of Gaston&comma; South Carolina&comma; won a &dollar;35 million Powerball Jackpot&period; Vargas&comma; the first winner from South Carolina&comma; picked the majority of his numbers based on the ages or birthdays of his family members&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He opted to take home a lump sum totaling about &dollar;17&period;3 million after taxes&period; With the money&comma; he and some partners created &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Wrestlicious&comma;” an all-female wrestling promotion&period; He even promised to buy his mother a home with the winnings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Out of the many young lottery winners that have appeared over the years&comma; only a few seem to have sensible plans for the fortunes they are lucky enough to win&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The then-teen seemed to be unbelievably mature in his post-win plans&period; However&comma; he eventually lost it all through a series of misplaced decisions and spending massive amounts of money on great clothes and jewelry&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>After purchasing a mansion&comma; Jonathan invested his money in countless schemes that never seemed to pan out&period; The last straw for Jonathan’s wealth arrived in the form of a television show Jonathan wanted to launch&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;lottoanalyst&period;com&sol;young-powerball-winner-jonathan-vargas" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Lotto Analyst<&sol;strong><&sol;a> described reports he has largely remained out of the spotlight in recent years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-facebook data-href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;malissa&period;allen&period;7&sol;posts&sol;pfbid0ePQyZnzwJESiA3BhGpH82jcoWVgzmAWBHpZsw38VtD4N1Q7dfPe5RfLJ24JkbDYal" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"400"><&sol;amp-facebook><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">4&period; Doris Murray<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Doris Murray was a loving 42-year-old mother-of-four living in South Carolina when she was blessed with a &dollar;5 million winning lottery ticket&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Murray&&num;8217&semi;s story is another tragic and cautionary one&colon; in 2008&comma; her ex-boyfriend Derrick Lorenzo Stanley&comma; of East Dublin&comma; stabbed her to death before she could even enjoy her winnings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Authorities say Murray&&num;8217&semi;s family called police after they saw 51-year-old Derrick Stanley leaving her home with blood on his face&period; Stanley was caught after leading police on a car chase&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the time of the case&comma; WLTX reported an investigator posited the two may have argued after she told him she wanted to break off their relationship and be friends&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The sheriff for Laurens County says Murray &&num;8220&semi;lived by meager standards&&num;8221&semi; despite her winnings after winning the prize on her birthday in April 2007&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the outlet&comma; she chose to take it in annual payments of &dollar;172&comma;000 over 20 years to set up a trust fund for her grandchildren&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lottery said the money would continue to be paid to whoever is in Murray&&num;8217&semi;s will&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Stanley was ultimately charged with the death of Murray&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;101911" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-101911" style&equals;"width&colon; 1140px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-101911" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;11&sol;GettyImages-112867389-scaled&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1140" height&equals;"739" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-101911" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Solomon Jackson Jr&period; of Columbia&comma; South Carolina&comma; is the winner of the &dollar;259&period;9 million Powerball jackpot Tuesday&comma; August 25&comma; 2009&period; &lpar;Photo by Gerry Melendez&sol;The State&sol;Tribune News Service via Getty Images&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">5&period; Solomon Jackson Jr&period;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>In 2009&comma; retired South Carolina state employee Solomon Jackson Jr&period; became the winner of a &dollar;259&period;9 million Powerball jackpot&comma;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Columbia native spent just two bucks on the lottery and was all smiles during a press conference as he claimed the  &dollar;260 million Powerball jackpot&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;For once in my life&comma; I really experienced the old saying&comma; pinch me to see if I&&num;8217&semi;m still alive&comma; or if this is real&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Solomon Jackson Jr&period; said&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>At the time&comma; South Carolina Education Lottery officials said the Powerball jackpot was the largest ever won with a ticket bought in the state&comma; which had the nation&&num;8217&semi;s fifth-highest unemployment rate&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Jackson shared few details about himself or his money plans but revealed he was married and had ten siblings&period; However&comma; he did not disclose how many children he had or provide his age&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"default&lowbar;&lowbar;StyledText-sc-1wxyvyl-0 hnShxL body-paragraph">He also didn&&num;8217&semi;t reveal whether he would take his winnings in a &dollar;129 million lump sum or yearly payments over 30 years&comma; which would have netted him &dollar;88 million more after taxes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"default&lowbar;&lowbar;StyledText-sc-1wxyvyl-0 hnShxL body-paragraph">He stated he had been an assistant supervisor for the state Revenue Department until early retirement in 2000 and was using his free time to return to school to get a degree from Midlands Technical College&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-facebook-page data-href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;KHOUShernMinChow&sol;photos&sol;a&period;181061388641215&sol;827923553954992" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"400"><&sol;amp-facebook-page><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">6&period; Bryon Woods<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Perhaps the happiest story belongs to former mechanic Mr&period; Bryon Woods and his wife&period; The couple who won &dollar;49 million in the Texas lottery in July 2003&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He decided upon the annuity&comma; which provided him &dollar;2&period;5 million upfront and a payout of just shy of &dollar;2 million per year for the ensuing 24 years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Woods took his winnings and opened up a historical motel in Texas called the Tee Pee Motel&period; He brought the property for &dollar;60&comma;000 and made &dollar;1&period;6 million in renovations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The couple initially didn&&num;8217&semi;t even know they&&num;8217&semi;d won the jackpot until a telephone call from a family member told them the winning ticket was purchased at the store where they had bought their ticket&period; Bryon then reportedly checked the numbers on his computer&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;I started screaming and hollering&comma; &&num;8216&semi;We&&num;8217&semi;re millionaires&excl; We&&num;8217&semi;re millionaires&excl;'&&num;8221&semi; he said&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Bryon&comma; then 38&comma; quit his job as a diesel mechanic&comma; and Barbara&comma; 46&comma; did the same to the J&amp&semi;K&&num;8217&semi;s Corner store where she worked&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the time&comma; they told the press that they wanted to provide college scholarships for local students&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style&equals;"justify-content&colon; center&semi;&semi;"> <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-container" data-ver&equals;"1&period;3&period;10" data-post&lowbar;id&equals;"101904" data-show&lowbar;count&equals;"true" data-enable&lowbar;share&equals;"onclick" data-behavior&equals;"regular" data-animation&equals;"true" data-share&lowbar;url&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;six-times-african-americans-won-the-lottery-and-the-cautionary-tales-of-overnight-fortune&sol;" data-secure&equals;"2a1d850594"> <div class&equals;"wpra-call-to-action" style&equals;"color&colon; 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Matthew McNulty

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