We’ve all fantasized about what we’d do if we won the lottery. Travel the world staying at the finest hotels, buy an opulent mansion, pay off your family’s mortgages, go on a Grand Theft Auto-style crime spree, get thrown in jail…
Okay, maybe not those last two. Enter James Farthing, whose lottery dream came true on April 28 2025, when he won a $167.3 million Powerball prize. The 50-year-old Kentucky man’s $2 ticket apparently secured him a life on easy street, with him splitting the prize with his 77-year-old mom, Linda Grizzle, and his girlfriend, Jacqueline Fightmaster (incidentally, cool name!).
Now, less than a year later, it’s all fallen apart for Farthing. Cops allege that over the weekend, Farthing smashed his way into a Lexington home and swiped $12,000 in cash, before hopping into his black Porsche and speeding away. Cops spotted him casually smoking a joint while driving and pulled him over, and he was soon behind bars.
NEW: Kentucky $167M Power-ball jackpot winner who was tased and tackled after kicking a Florida deputy less than a year ago has now been arrested for breaking into a home and stealing $12K in cash
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) March 30, 2026
James Farthing, 51, was arrested on charges of burglary in the second degree and… pic.twitter.com/c2O21UmhCV
A multimillionaire committing what appears to be a pointless crime and ruining his life might seem an odd mystery. But things become a little clearer when you take a peek at what Farthing has been doing with his half-century on this planet.
A one-man crime wave!
The Smoking Gun reports that Farthing is considered a “persistent felony offender” by Kentucky cops. He can boast a 16-page rap sheet and a “dizzying” criminal record covering most of Kentucky, and has at one time or another apparently broken every law on the books. When even the cops are kind of impressed at how long your rap sheet is, that’s kind of an achievement. I guess?
So what has he done over those years? Well, among other things, he’s been a coke dealer, possessed stolen firearms, involved his mom in a weed smuggling plot, and smuggled prescription drugs into jails. He’s also spent nearly 30 years behind bars for his crimes.
That didn’t stop his criminal life, as while incarcerated, Farthing racked up a disciplinary record studded with assaults, drug possession, loansharking, gambling, drug smuggling, and positive tests for alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and depressants. He also engaged in an “improper relationship with a female canteen staffer”, stole items from other inmates and demanded money for their return, and sent “large amounts of money to people Internal Affairs cannot connect to him.”
It sounds like this one guy is responsible for a large chunk of Kentucky’s crime stats! As such, you won’t be surprised that he didn’t let up even after becoming a multimillionaire. On his celebration trip to Florida, he allegedly punched another hotel guest in the face, then attacked the deputy sheriff who intervened. He was promptly tasered.
Then, in February, a woman went to the cops and accused Farthing of pressuring her into taking a weed gummy. He is also under suspicion of a hit-and-run in Fayette County.
Presumably, Farthing is now headed back to prison, where he’ll commit yet more crimes. In a way, it’s admirable that he’s stayed true to himself and didn’t let the lottery win change who he is. It’s just unfortunate that “who he is” is a violent and abusive criminal who makes the lives of everyone around him a living nightmare.
