Surprise! Winner of $34.5M Lotto jackpot is not estranged husband

Mar 2, 2012, 6:40 pm (54 comments)

Indiana Lottery

A Shelbyville man hits a $34.5 million lottery jackpot but then takes pains to hide it from his estranged wife by claiming it covertly.

It was a made-for-TV story that turned out to be too good to be true.

The wife of the purported winner of the Hoosier Lotto's latest jackpot made clear in a local TV interview last week that she wanted her share. And it even took on a legal dimension this week, when a Shelby County court entered the fray, ordering the husband not to spend a dime.

But the winner, instead, is a Shelbyville woman in her 70s, according to her attorney.

The lawyer — his client still wishes to remain anonymous — insisted to The Indianapolis Star on Thursday that the winner had no connection to James Prather, publicized as the potential winner by at least two Indianapolis TV stations.

Prather's name had come to the forefront as rumors swirled around Shelbyville in the days after the Feb. 18 Hoosier Lotto drawing. A week ago, his wife, Ericka, gave the rumors credence, when she said in a television interview that James Prather asked her for a divorce out of the blue and admitted to winning the lottery.

Prather's eventual denial that he had won failed to convince either his wife or her Carmel attorney, Andrew Thompson.

Thompson said Thursday that he still was seeking proof that Prather wasn't the winner.

It wasn't enough that the actual winner's Indianapolis attorney, Geffrey Rainbolt, contacted Thompson earlier Thursday to discuss the matter.

Rainbolt was scratching his head over the confusion surrounding the jackpot.

"I was surprised that confirmation wasn't sought by the news sources reporting the information" about Prather, Rainbolt said. He said he could have confirmed that Prather had no connection to the jackpot if he had been contacted.

He did just that, Rainbolt said, when representatives from national TV programs "Inside Edition," which airs locally on WISH (Channel 8), and ABC's "20/20" called him to check out the story. But he said the Indianapolis station that aired the interview with Ericka Prather — WRTV (Channel 6) — did not contact him.

Kevin Finch, WRTV's news director, did not return a voicemail Thursday.

Attempts to reach James Prather were not successful.

The Star's stories on the Hoosier Lotto jackpot did not mention Prather, focusing instead on the winner's desire for anonymity.

Rainbolt said his client made that choice because of concerns about her safety and security, as well as her family's privacy in a small town.

She opted for the upfront cash payment: nearly $16 million, or $11.4 million after federal and state taxes.

It was Rainbolt who accepted the oversized check from a Hoosier Lottery official at a Feb. 24 news conference. The check was made out to HLT LLC, the limited liability corporation Rainbolt had established to shield his client's identity. HLT stands for Hoosier Lottery Ticket.

But even before that day, rumors naming Prather as the winner had spread quickly around Shelbyville, though it's not clear why he was the focus of speculation.

The Hoosier Lottery announced Feb. 19 that the winning ticket — for a jackpot that tied as the Hoosier Lotto's third-largest — had been sold at Smokers Host in Shelbyville.

The next afternoon, a commenter wrote a simple message on the Shelbyville News' Facebook page: "it was james prather" (sic).

Also on Feb. 20 — four days before Rainbolt claimed the jackpot for his client — WXIN (Fox 59) reported on the buzz around Shelbyville, with talk centering on James Prather as the likely winner.

Lee Rosenthal, the station's news director, said WXIN's reporter learned of Prather's name from the store that sold the winning ticket. It's possible, of course, that the store employee had simply heard the talk around town.

WXIN didn't name Prather in follow-up reports later that week after the winner's attorney came forward.

However, WRTV's interview with Ericka Prather didn't air until after Rainbolt's news conference at Hoosier Lottery headquarters.

In that interview, she said she and James Prather had had an on-and-off relationship, had never divorced, and had two children who lived with her.

She told WRTV of a phone call she had received from her husband earlier that week:

"He goes, 'I got a question. Can we make our divorce final?' And I was like, it was just out of nowhere. I was like, 'Is it because you hit the lottery?' He's like, 'Huh?' and tried to say that he didn't, and then he's like, 'Yeah, I did.' "

A written version of WRTV's report was picked up by The Associated Press and was published on some news websites outside Indiana.

Thompson said Ericka Prather sincerely believed her husband was the winner.

"She wasn't looking for news coverage," he said, "but for a just result."

And the urgency of protecting her interest and that of her children is what led Thompson to seek a temporary restraining order on James Prather's spending — as a precautionary measure — in Shelby Superior Court. A judge granted the motion Monday, Thompson said, but no hearing has been held.

"So if he doesn't have any (winnings)," the attorney said, "obviously it doesn't have any effect."

Just to be sure, The Star asked the Hoosier Lottery if James Prather had attempted to claim any winnings recently in any of its games.

Spokesman Al Larsen said Prather had not submitted any claim.

Indianapolis Star

Comments

NightStalker's avatarNightStalker

LMAO!!  I'll bet she divorces him now!!

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

oh so he did't spill his guts when she asked,

just testing the water maybe,

or maybe it was time to bite the bullit,

and she thought,whats up ?

but then, does he know the real winner ?

this could get messy.

mcginnin56

Hmmmm......lotteries do stir up a lot of drama, whether intentional or not. Money certainly is a game changer when it comes to the game of life.

Hyper   Lep      Crazy     Roll Eyes

New York's avatarNew York

LOL my head hurts. So let me get this straight. The winner is not James and someone else? And this diversion was to test the womens Greed? LOL haha.

WesternRedDoug

The real winner and her attorney are WAY too nice for this world. If I was a winner and trying to stay anonymous, I would keep my mouth shut and relish every week these two could stay in the news. This is exactly the scenario I would have wanted.

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Mr. Prather should go and get that divorce finalization, post haste. Yikes!

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by WesternRedDoug on Mar 2, 2012

The real winner and her attorney are WAY too nice for this world. If I was a winner and trying to stay anonymous, I would keep my mouth shut and relish every week these two could stay in the news. This is exactly the scenario I would have wanted.

sorry man,doesn't work,just puts more focus on it when the truth comes out.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by New York on Mar 2, 2012

LOL my head hurts. So let me get this straight. The winner is not James and someone else? And this diversion was to test the womens Greed? LOL haha.

could be,or maybe he knows the real winner.

mightwin's avatarmightwin

Yeah, what idiots! Maybe the reporter might want to do a little investigating next time instead of taking someones word for it

loonasee2's avatarloonasee2

Bet they both feel like the horses back-side.lol

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Sounds similar to the story I read a few years ago here at LP about a Florida woman trying to get an unclaimed Hoosier lottery jackpot after hearing from her kin folks that her estranged husband who lived in Indiana had destroyed the winning ticket rather than claim the jackpot and share it with her and her kids.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

WOW!!!! they need a reality tv showLurking

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

Truly - smiling ear to ear. :)

Love ...and I mean...love the fact that this soon to be divorced wife now gets half of nuffin :) 

Nice that the truth came out.

temptustoo's avatartemptustoo

Attorneys , judges and bull crap....    They all look like total fools...  LOL.. !!!!  All about the money !!! and her lawyer is still not convinced .. Money grubbing lawyers.. The judge should be off the bench..  He had no proof of anything .. just a Lawyer talking about rumors.. LOL..  Big Grin Angel

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Is James Prather in a romantic relationship with this 70 year-old jackpot winner?  Was James heard telling people "we won" and they misunderstood?

Clown

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by TheGameGrl on Mar 2, 2012

Truly - smiling ear to ear. :)

Love ...and I mean...love the fact that this soon to be divorced wife now gets half of nuffin :) 

Nice that the truth came out.

Nobody indicated that James Prather didn't already have substantial savings obtained during his marriage to his spouse.

Mail For You

Regardless, CONGRATULATIONS to this newest female Indiana Lotto Jackpot winner! Banana

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

haha the ex husband must be laughing so hard at her and her lawyer that he will be stress free for a year. Hmmm its just the perfect way to get back at an ex. Make her make a fool at herself infront of the whole country. Love it.

Seattlejohn

The reason this story was given any credence in the first place is because the stupid moron asked his wife for a divorce out of the blue AND said that he'd won the lottery.  The divorce stands out, but is not newsworthy; the lottery part makes it a story the news services love to run.  If he'd told the truth, this wouldn't have been picked up by the news services because there was nothing to report.  What a dumbass...

temptustoo's avatartemptustoo

he is not the dumb ass... Shows what happens when people start rumors and how far things can go in a short amount of time when dumb asses listen to dumb asses..Big Grin Angel  I THINK YOU CALL IT G R E E D !!! Big Grin Angel

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

She thought she was gonna jerk him around but he wound up jerking her around.

The jerker became the jerkee.

And now... everything is on the table.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

 I bet she maxed the credit card out already.

lotsofwins's avatarlotsofwins

I didn't see the original news story, but wow, love this story, he simply wanted a divorce and she was unwilling to give it to him, what kind of crap is that? and then the only reason she wanted to stay married was because he won the lottery, what kind of shallow person has the audacity to do that and what kind of lesson is that teaching the kids...jeez.....I really hope that the husband doesn't know the winner....jeez

who is going to pay the lawyers??

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by RedStang on Mar 3, 2012

 I bet she maxed the credit card out already.

She probably has crappy credit and has no credit cards. Thud

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Mar 3, 2012

She thought she was gonna jerk him around but he wound up jerking her around.

The jerker became the jerkee.

And now... everything is on the table.

Just love it when this happens to "Jerkees".   Green laugh

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Seattlejohn on Mar 3, 2012

The reason this story was given any credence in the first place is because the stupid moron asked his wife for a divorce out of the blue AND said that he'd won the lottery.  The divorce stands out, but is not newsworthy; the lottery part makes it a story the news services love to run.  If he'd told the truth, this wouldn't have been picked up by the news services because there was nothing to report.  What a dumbass...

Why tell the truth when you can get all this great entertainment? Keep the crazy stories coming!  Banana

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Quote: Originally posted by maringoman on Mar 3, 2012

haha the ex husband must be laughing so hard at her and her lawyer that he will be stress free for a year. Hmmm its just the perfect way to get back at an ex. Make her make a fool at herself infront of the whole country. Love it.

He's not exed yet. Until that happens, he can be put on the hook for the wife's debts.

No doubt they'll try to hit him up for some or all of any legal fees. This ain't over.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Mar 3, 2012

He's not exed yet. Until that happens, he can be put on the hook for the wife's debts.

No doubt they'll try to hit him up for some or all of any legal fees. This ain't over.

Good! It is isn't over that = more drama.   Hyper

sandia's avatarsandia

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Mar 3, 2012

Good! It is isn't over that = more drama.   Hyper

 So, no lottery win for the husband and wife gets nothing as well? Wait, her lawyer fees. Well the husband might need to foot the bill. However, having the wife make a fool out of herself on national television.........PRICELESS!

   Green laughGreen laugh.

     Man, this story was confusing from the start. I was right, entertainment galore!

Lurking

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

ROTFLOLING!

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by sandia on Mar 3, 2012

 So, no lottery win for the husband and wife gets nothing as well? Wait, her lawyer fees. Well the husband might need to foot the bill. However, having the wife make a fool out of herself on national television.........PRICELESS!

   Green laughGreen laugh.

     Man, this story was confusing from the start. I was right, entertainment galore!

Lurking

Fortunately for this floozie, most lawyers work on a third commission of whatever the judgement is, or receive nothing. A smart lawyer will

carefully assess a potential case for the probability of winning a judgement, before even accepting. (she might not have even hired one).   Smash

libra926

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Mar 2, 2012

oh so he did't spill his guts when she asked,

just testing the water maybe,

or maybe it was time to bite the bullit,

and she thought,whats up ?

but then, does he know the real winner ?

this could get messy.

"does he know the real winner"..........Haymaker that is an excellent point and I too wonder about this..

But,  why would anyone put themselves thru all this 'drama'  over money they didn't win?  Or did Ericka actually guess, in part,  the truth....remember James's reaction to her question...Is it possible  that he is related by Birth (Mother) or Blood (Nephew,Brother, Cousin) to the elderly woman who won the Lotto, and knew she would give him some of her winnings, but never imagined Ericka would go this far to get anything. 

None of us can know at this time if there is a "family connection" but I wouldn't be surprised after all that has occurred. James has certainly put himself in a ton of horse manure...because if he is inline to receive any funds from the Elderly Winner, all eyes are still on him....and Ericka is still his Spouse.

Remember.."Hell hath no Fury, like that of a Woman Scorned".........even scorned out of money

libra926

Correction...not rumors...

Prather admitted to Ericka that he won Money....Thats what Started this mess and brought him out to the front of the class....He should have kept his mouth shut...and simply employed a Divorce Lawyer to file the papers on his behalf.......then none of this nonsense would have taken "Fire"......Now all eyes are on him

rad242

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Mar 3, 2012

Why tell the truth when you can get all this great entertainment? Keep the crazy stories coming!  Banana

Lol! I must admit this one was TOO Sweet. I gotta manage my insuilin levels you know

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by rad242 on Mar 3, 2012

Lol! I must admit this one was TOO Sweet. I gotta manage my insuilin levels you know

Yeah, it's not often you get these delicious dramas served up fresh with all the trimmings. I think it might be Todd's way of giving all members a

belated Christmas gift, or if he's a good Irishmen an early St. Patty's kickoff.    Lep    Party

rad242

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Mar 3, 2012

Yeah, it's not often you get these delicious dramas served up fresh with all the trimmings. I think it might be Todd's way of giving all members a

belated Christmas gift, or if he's a good Irishmen an early St. Patty's kickoff.    Lep    Party

The lawyer was a PAWN. Indeed the gods have a sense of humor!

mediabrat's avatarmediabrat

Remember that he started out denying it was because he won the lottery (because she immediately suspected it was) and then "admitted" to being the winner.  I put "admitted" in quotes because I'm wondering if he legitimately has no connection to the winner and merely said he won in a misguided attempt to get her off his back.  Neither one of these people seems to be very smart, so I wouldn't put it past him.

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

My head is whirling over the judges ruling. What kind of mail order law degree did this judge acquire? Common sense says that evidence presides over hearsay. This lady had NO direct proof .  And yes a RETAINER fee is rendered BEFORE a case is taken ,if you get a lawyer that doesnt require one...chances are ...he isn't one.

Ironically the husband may have spoken truthfully when he said he won. Maybe he "won" $2 or $10. People make "assumptions"...just like the media did. Follow the facts and the fallacy will fall. Glad I followed this one!

Bigheadnick's avatarBigheadnick

This is made for tv lol!

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by libra926 on Mar 3, 2012

"does he know the real winner"..........Haymaker that is an excellent point and I too wonder about this..

But,  why would anyone put themselves thru all this 'drama'  over money they didn't win?  Or did Ericka actually guess, in part,  the truth....remember James's reaction to her question...Is it possible  that he is related by Birth (Mother) or Blood (Nephew,Brother, Cousin) to the elderly woman who won the Lotto, and knew she would give him some of her winnings, but never imagined Ericka would go this far to get anything. 

None of us can know at this time if there is a "family connection" but I wouldn't be surprised after all that has occurred. James has certainly put himself in a ton of horse manure...because if he is inline to receive any funds from the Elderly Winner, all eyes are still on him....and Ericka is still his Spouse.

Remember.."Hell hath no Fury, like that of a Woman Scorned".........even scorned out of money

whenever i hear one of these stories,

i go to google maps to see how small the town is,

this one looked like a town where a resident could know half the town if they lived there long enough.

Guru101's avatarGuru101

Wow. Claiming through a trust sure does create some good stories. Maybe I'll claim through a trust when I win, just to see what stories come out. lol

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by TheGameGrl on Mar 3, 2012

My head is whirling over the judges ruling. What kind of mail order law degree did this judge acquire? Common sense says that evidence presides over hearsay. This lady had NO direct proof .  And yes a RETAINER fee is rendered BEFORE a case is taken ,if you get a lawyer that doesnt require one...chances are ...he isn't one.

Ironically the husband may have spoken truthfully when he said he won. Maybe he "won" $2 or $10. People make "assumptions"...just like the media did. Follow the facts and the fallacy will fall. Glad I followed this one!

Ironically the husband may have spoken truthfully when he said he won. Maybe he "won" $2 or $10.

When ever anyone asks if I've ever won the lottery I say "yes" referring the times I matched 3+1 several times with MM, match 4+0 once with PB and the time I matched 5of6 with Ohio Super Lotto for $1500.

GYM RICE

All anyone has to do is go to yahoo news and see the amount of made up stories that these writers are doing on a daily basis's just to get reactions. I take all these lottery stories with a gain of salt.  I friend of mine family member won the lotto twice over a 5 year period. And reading what was written about the lotto winner was if not fantasy, it was the next thing to it. I'm not saying there aren't honest writers out there, but a lot of them have quite the imagination.

pick4master

Quote: Originally posted by temptustoo on Mar 2, 2012

Attorneys , judges and bull crap....    They all look like total fools...  LOL.. !!!!  All about the money !!! and her lawyer is still not convinced .. Money grubbing lawyers.. The judge should be off the bench..  He had no proof of anything .. just a Lawyer talking about rumors.. LOL..  Big Grin Angel

I love it when the media has to feel stupid. LORRH...

laughing out real real hard!

CTNY's avatarCTNY

"Smile your on Candid Camera" lmao!

gocart1's avatargocart1

Quote: Originally posted by New York on Mar 2, 2012

LOL my head hurts. So let me get this straight. The winner is not James and someone else? And this diversion was to test the womens Greed? LOL haha.

Agree with stupid

louise black

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Mar 3, 2012

Fortunately for this floozie, most lawyers work on a third commission of whatever the judgement is, or receive nothing. A smart lawyer will

carefully assess a potential case for the probability of winning a judgement, before even accepting. (she might not have even hired one).   Smash

I would like know why do this woman has to a floozie because she want financial stability for herself and the kids. Sir!Cussing FaceNo No

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on Mar 4, 2012

I would like know why do this woman has to a floozie because she want financial stability for herself and the kids. Sir!Cussing FaceNo No

Right from the phone conversation the "ex" pre-supposed that her husband had won the lottery. The rest is history, she freaked out, assumed he did,

went public to trash his name and reputation. She wanted a big payday and it turned out to be all BS Her kids are of course very important,

as they should be.  We don't know all the facts yet, truth is  usually stranger than fiction. Kids should always be of paramount concern Mam,

but this FLOOZIE.....I think not.     Smash

Lucky SOB

sucks to be the true lottery winner with all this media around your ticket

imagine's avatarimagine

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Mar 4, 2012

Right from the phone conversation the "ex" pre-supposed that her husband had won the lottery. The rest is history, she freaked out, assumed he did,

went public to trash his name and reputation. She wanted a big payday and it turned out to be all BS Her kids are of course very important,

as they should be.  We don't know all the facts yet, truth is  usually stranger than fiction. Kids should always be of paramount concern Mam,

but this FLOOZIE.....I think not.     Smash

He told her in the phone conversation that he won the lottery.

So she's a floosie for trying to get something to something from her husband?

The guy is an ahole.  They were together recently, its not like he had cut off all contact for years.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on Mar 4, 2012

I would like know why do this woman has to a floozie because she want financial stability for herself and the kids. Sir!Cussing FaceNo No

Some of us know floozies when we see 'em Louise.

Hell, I was married to a few of 'em.

And that's not to say I dislike 'em, cuz they usually have a quality or two that I like.

I just sleep with one eye open afterward.

DC81's avatarDC81

Quote: Originally posted by imagine on Mar 5, 2012

He told her in the phone conversation that he won the lottery.

So she's a floosie for trying to get something to something from her husband?

The guy is an ahole.  They were together recently, its not like he had cut off all contact for years.

According to her he said that and no where has it been said he hasn't been supporting his kids has it?

I love how so many still jump to the defense and support of this woman.Thumbs Down  I can see why they're separated and soon to be divorced.

imagine's avatarimagine

All right lets play he said/ she said.

She said he claimed he won the lottery.  She went on the news running this poor upstanding man down.
Claiming he fired her from the construction company he owned.  She's worked there for years, and she's claiming he cut her off financially.

He said..... Oh that's right he had nothing to say.

Simba774

Some people(not me) were on her side as soon as her story hit the media.LOL

imagine's avatarimagine

Quote: Originally posted by Simba774 on Mar 7, 2012

Some people(not me) were on her side as soon as her story hit the media.LOL

I'm on the side of the poor old lady that won.

I think the husband told  his soon to be ex wife this during a tense situation, this will get her goat.

Not thinking about the real winner, who I'm sure had her money frozen till this mess is sorted out.
She's the victim here.   Her wildest dreams come true, and people drag her into their drama.
Sad.

End of comments
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