Sex offender wins lottery? That figures

By Joe McAdory

Published: June 19, 2008

I don’t know what to make of this story. As much as I play the lottery, and come away a dollar short each time, it makes me sick to hear about somebody winning like this. Here’s the text from the Associated Press story:

LANSING, Mich. — The winner of last week’s $57 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot is a registered sex offender who also pleaded guilty to two breaking and entering charges in the 1980s.

Fred Topous Jr., 45, was discharged from Michigan Department of Corrections supervision in October 2006.

The Kent City man traveled to Lansing on Tuesday to claim the prize from Friday’s drawing in the multistate game. Topous chose to take the prize as a $34 million lump sum payment, before taxes.

Topous said he planned to buy a house, send his children to college and have some fun with his winnings. He said he and his wife work multiple jobs to make ends meet and thought they’d have to work till they died.

“I want to enjoy a little bit of life,“ Topous told state lottery officials. “We’re plain folks. We’ve struggled all our lives.“