Georgia Lottery: Burglar wins lottery, but keeps day jobCarlos Sola decided to keep his job after he won a Georgia Lottery jackpot $1,000 a week for life.
His occupation? Burglar.
In April 2002, Sola was awaiting trial for stealing $40,000 in coins and jewelry from an Austell home when he hit it big in the Win For Life scratch-off game.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram took note of his good fortune and allowed a plea deal that included three years in prison, provided the first $40,000 of his winnings went to repay his victims.
So when Sola's first annual payment came last May $34,840 after taxes he was behind bars and didn't get a dime.
He got out on probation in August but returned to his old line of work. He was arrested in December for the burglary of a Smyrna home.
Back in prison until at least 2005, Sola is due his second annual lottery check this month: $34,840, less $5,160 for restitution from his earlier conviction. He can keep the rest.
"It's funny," his attorney Henry Thompson said Friday, "but it's also really sad."
