Family of lottery winner bites back in scathing legal battle; winner changes his story

By Kate Northrop

The $1.3 billion Mega Millions lottery winner sued the mother of his child for revealing the win to his family, but now, his father is accusing him of going back on a promise to share the jackpot.

The family of the $1.3 billion Mega Millions jackpot winner is biting back in court, claiming he went against his word that he would share the lottery winnings.

"I told him... 'You are not the son I knew,'" the winner's father, a retired police chief in his 70s, said in a sworn declaration filed Friday in federal court. "He got angry, calling me a 'dictator' and an [expletive]. I have not heard from my son since, and he has not done any of [the] things he promised."

In February 2023, one lucky winner stepped forward to claim the then-fourth-largest lottery jackpot in history from the Mega Millions drawing on Jan. 13, 2023. He opted for the one-time lump sum payment of $723.56 million and would have received just over $404 million after taxes, according to the Jackpot Analysis tool from USA Mega.

Although Maine state law allowed him to claim the jackpot without revealing his name, the guarantee of his anonymity may very well change, depending on how future events between himself and his family unfold.

In November, he accused the mother of his child, who goes by the pseudonym "Sara Smith" in court documents, of letting news of the win slip to his own parents. His sister then discovered the news through the grapevine, and depending on how far along the game of telephone has progressed, it is possible more people know.

The winner, named "John Doe" in filings, said that she had signed an NDA two weeks before he claimed the prize, which stipulates she must keep the jackpot win a secret until their daughter comes of age in 2032 to keep his identity, his daughter's identity, location, and assets hidden from the public eye.

For allegedly breaking the NDA, he sued her and demanded she pay $100,000 for every person she's revealed the win to and must reveal every single person she has told.

His story has since taken a complete 180.

On May 10, "John's" attorneys filed a motion for sanctions against "Sara." He stated that she tried to publicly expose his identity, twist his image, and lie about his conduct, including accusing him of kidnapping their daughter, withdrawing her from school, and only returning her to her mother when a court ordered him to do so.

"Sara" filed an opposition to "John's" motion, supplemented by written testimony from "John's" father. Additionally, "John" had admitted to telling his father that he had won the jackpot, despite originally accusing "Sara" of going behind his back and letting the news slip.

"I made the mistake of telling my father that I had won the lottery without having him sign a confidentiality agreement," "John" said in his refiled sanctions motion.

In "Sara's" opposition, she maintains that she did not tell "John's" father, stepmother, or sister about his lottery winnings. The documents also allege that "John" had, in fact, told his father much more than just the lottery win alone.

"['John'] told him a lot more than the naked fact he had won the lottery, including the fact that he had won over a billion dollars (reduced after taxes to about $500 million), what he planned on doing with the money, and all the things he said he would do for his father (which he never did)," the filings state.

The lottery winner's admission that he was the one to reveal the win, compounded with his father's own sworn declaration in legal documents, "Sara's" motion says, is enough to shatter "the remaining shards of this suit." She believes his motivation for filing the lawsuit against her in the first place was to use his "limitless resources to bully and intimidate her to make concessions in the on-going family matter concerning their daughter."

She recalled being harassed by "John's" legal counsel and "security team," even when their daughter was not with her, calling the behavior "terrifying, invasive, intimidating, and downright creepy." She reports being constantly followed, having her and her visitors' every move tracked, finding unmarked cars outside her home, and suspects that her electronic devices are being monitored.

Her daughter's school has also asked the "security team" to stay off the school property after other parents complained about seeing them lurking about. For months now, she often hears "a clicking noise" while she is on the phone and has had "a number of unexplained dropped calls."

The final nail in the coffin, she says, is his father's supplemental declaration.

"In or around February or March of 2023, my son came to my house in [REDACTED], and informed me and my wife that he won a large amount of money in the Maine State Lottery," his father says in the documents. "I understand that my son has stated that he told me nothing about his money other than 'the simple fact that I had won.' That is not true."

He goes on to say that his son disclosed the amount he won and that he had given his girlfriend half, so they would have $250 million each. Additionally, he says his son promised on building him a garage, buying him some old hobby cars to fix up, and purchasing his childhood home from his parents, "even though I didn't ask him for anything."

"He said, 'Find out what they want for it, and I'll pay double,'" the winner's father recalls his son saying. "This is not something my current wife and I wanted to do."

According to the sworn declaration, "John" also promised to set up a $1 million trust fund for his father, which would provide a monthly stipend. He would have 24-hour care if needed so that he would never have to go into assisted living or a nursing home.

"I also understand that he has stated that ['Sara']'s speaking with me and my wife ruined the relationship between me and my son," the retired police chief continues. "That is not true. It was my son who insisted that neither I nor my wife have any communications or contact with ['Sara']. ['Sara'] is the mother of our grandchild and we have had a good relationship with her over the years. I thought she was a good mother and we did not want to turn our back on her as he insisted."

"['John'] may be embarrassed — and should be embarrassed — that the public will learn that his father effectively has called him a liar, that he filed this lawsuit because he didn't want his own family to know that he won the lottery, that he was motivated to punish the mother of his child after she rejected him notwithstanding his billion-dollar lottery winnings, that he tried to buy custody of his daughter from ['Sara'], and having failed on that score, then used his wealth to try to overwhelm ['Sara'] in this Stalingrad litigation and thus extort concessions in the on-going family dispute concerning their daughter," "Sara's" scathing rebuttal concludes. "While we understand why ["John"] would want to hide these facts from the public, the public is entitled to know why ["John's] complaint is baseless and was filed for an improper purpose."