Fresh details emerged this week from the civil case of the $1.3 billion Mega Millions lottery winner from Maine. The lottery winner is suing his ex-partner over allegations she violated a nondisclosure agreement signed after the massive jackpot windfall.
The lawsuit was originally filed on November 14, 2023, just nine months after the winning ticket was bought in Lebanon, Maine.
The unnamed winner, referred to in court documents as John Doe, is suing his former partner, who is referred to as Sara Smith.
The suit alleges that Smith, the mother of their child, signed an NDA after the win, only to break it by informing Doe’s parents about his windfall.
However, new documents filed in the Maine court system this week turn the tables on that story. Lawyers argue that Doe himself actually told his parents about the win first. Those allegations come from Smith and Doe’s father. The latter says he has barely spoken to his son since the life-changing win.
Not The Son I Knew
The new counterclaim from Smith’s lawyers provided evidence that Doe had told his parents about the win before Smith did.
The father said his son visited him a month after the win and let the cat out of the bag about his new fortune. He promised to buy his father several things. That included a new garage and some classic cars to fix up.
However, when the son suggested that they set up a million dollar trust fund for any care needed in his senior years, things turned sour.
“I questioned him about how that would work with taxes, and why we needed to have a trust fund,” the father wrote.
“As a retired police chief in my 70s, I did not see the need for a trust fund at my age.”
The father also did not want to comply with his son’s wish that he cut off communications with Smith.
“I told him… ‘You are not the son I knew,’” the father said in court documents, as reported by news site CentralMaine. “He got angry, calling me a ‘dictator’ and an ‘a***hole.’ I have not heard from my son since, and he has not done any of [the] things he promised.”
Jobless to Hundreds of Millions
The Lotto winner also hit back with his own claims. He says that Smith has only started legal proceedings after he refused to pay for her new partner as part of an offer to pay for a trip to Disneyland for their daughter.
He claims that he mostly raised their child on his own for several years during the pandemic. That’s because Smith was away working long shifts as a stopgap emergency nurse in various areas around the U.S.
During that time, Doe says, he lost his job and relied on friends for support. He says he believes Smith is not entitled to financial aid that she did not give him just because he is now wealthy.
He is also claiming defamation, as he says his ex-partner has told many people about his huge jackpot win.
However, Smith has her own story. She says she only started legal proceedings because he pulled their daughter out of school and took her to an undisclosed location to lay low after his windfall.
Smith also alleges that Doe use his newfound wealth to hire a security detail that tracked her and their daughter’s whereabouts. It got to the point where other parents at the child’s school complained about it.
No court date has been set by the U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, who is presiding over the case.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
