Willie Hurt was a happily married family man and somewhat well-known in the community. In 1989, Hurt won $3.1 million in the Michigan Lottery. Within two years, Hurt left his wife and lost custody of his kids. He Blew through the money and was charged with attempted murder.
His lawyer claimed all the money went toward Hurt’s messy divorce and his crack cocaine addiction. Hurt was named in the Lottery’s top ten tragedies to winners of the Lottery. The lottery is notorious for changing regular people into having very big problems.
There are many stories of people who blew through their money and dealt with tax evasion charges as well as substance and alcohol abuse. People come out of the woodwork claiming to be family and wanting a piece of the fortune. Families are torn apart and the money tends to be the root cause of it all. Instant money is a bad idea.