Lottery winners who had just $24 hit a $13 million jackpot — but wish they could “give it back” after jail time.
A PAIR, who fell to their last $24 in a $13 million jackpot, have admitted the money has “ripped them apart”.
In 1990, Alex and Rhoda Toth’s life changed overnight when they won the Florida Lottery and chose to take their winnings in installments, raking in $666,666 annually by 2010.
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“It’s a lot of money,” Alex said at the time, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “It puts a lot of pressure on you.”
The Toths wasted no time squandering their wealth on gifts, flying around the world in private jets and meeting celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Donald Trump.
The couple splurged on a three-month trip to Las Vegas that included stays in a $1,000-a-night penthouse suite at the Mirage, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Back in Florida, they bought 10 acres of land.
Alex – who had six children from previous relationships – gambled away much of his winnings.
Unlike some lottery winners, Alex has never hired an accountant to handle his taxes.
When the payments were made, their taxes were withheld, according to court documents.
And a decade after she submitted that life-changing ticket, the family filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and 2002.
Alex and Rhoda eventually owed the IRS $2.5 million in unpaid taxes and were ultimately charged with tax fraud in 2006.
In all, Rhoda owed the government $1.1 million and her husband $1.4 million.
Rhoda was quoted as saying that the money “tore us apart” and caused rifts with friends and family members, leading to a legal battle between her and her son Steven Moser in 1996.
“Sometimes I wish we could give it back,” she was quoted as saying.
In 1996, Rhoda asked a Florida judge for protection from her son and his then-girlfriend, claiming they threatened to kill her and the family dog and burn down their home and cars.
“Someone will get hurt if it doesn’t stop,” Rhoda wrote in her 1996 plea to the court.
Until 2006, the former millionaire couple lived in deplorable conditions in Florida, and the only source of electricity powering their home came from an extension cord attached to their car engine.
They eventually split the following year after Alex went to a medical facility to be treated for mental health issues, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
In 2008, Alex died of a heart attack at the age of 60, was broke and living on welfare.
He died before being charged with tax evasion.
Rhoda was found guilty in 2008 and sentenced to two years in prison.
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