Powerball Winner's Result: 26-Year-Old Mother Gets Numbers Right, Gets $188 Million Jackpot, and Gets Arrested for Marijuana
The 26-year-old single mother of four who made headlines when she won a $188 million lottery jackpot earlier this year was arrested last week for marijuana possession.
Officials say that Marie Holmes of Brunswick County, North Carolina was cited with having a half ounce or less of marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside of her home in Shallotte on Thursday, reports My Fox 8.
Brunswick County Sheriff's deputies initially came to Holmes' house to arrest her fiance, Lamarr McDow, who lives with her, for violating the terms of his release from jail. However, when cops arrived at her home, they smelled pot and obtained a search warrant.
The officers subsequently found marijuana and a gun that allegedly belonged to McDow. Both Holmes and McDow, along with two other men, were charged with marijuana possession and possession of marijuana paraphernalia. McDow was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, while a man identified as Jeffrey Antuan Gause was charged with resisting a public officer, reports Vice.
According to WWAY, McDow is an alleged gang member who was arrested earlier this year for heroin trafficking. However, apparently Holmes used some of her cash winnings to pay his $3 million bond in March.
Holmes was unemployed when she hit the $564 million Powerball jackpot back in February, making her one of the three lucky winners to hit the third-largest Powerball prize in the game's history. Instead of earning $188 million share over a period of time, she opted to receive a lump sum of $127 million, which turned out to be about $88 million after taxes.
After hitting the jackpot, she said that she planned to use the money to open up college savings accounts for her children and share her earnings with her church.
"First I'm going to pay my tithe, because I wouldn't have none of it if it wasn't for God," Holmes told WECT.
Holmes told WWAY-TV that she was absolutely shocked when she realized that her ticket matched the winning numbers.
She added that she does not play the lottery often and was looking for a new job after being forced to quit her jobs at Wal-Mart and McDonald's in order to care for her children, one of whom has cerebral palsy.
Holmes is scheduled to appear in court in September.
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