A man who recently won a $167m Powerball lottery jackpot stands accused of stealing the relatively paltry sum of $12,000 after breaking into a house in his home state of Kentucky on Saturday, according to authorities who arrested him.
James Farthing’s arrest on Saturday on counts of burglary and illicit marijuana possession reportedly was at least his third since winning Kentucky’s most lucrative lottery prize ever.
Farthing, 51, was allegedly captured on surveillance cameras at the side door of a woman’s home in Lexington before unlawfully entering the place, police wrote in an arrest citation that was reported by the local news outlet WKYT. The break-in victim heard a loud noise consistent with a door being busted open, and she realized $12,000 was missing from the home after Farthing broke in, officers alleged in the citation.
Police later found Farthing at a casino and harness-racing track and took him into custody in connection with the alleged burglary. Officers said they added the illegal marijuana possession count after searching his car and finding the herb along with multiple blunts, including one that had burnt out in his vehicle’s ashtray.
Farthing had spent most of his life in and out of incarceration before he, his mother and girlfriend bought the winning ticket for a $167m Powerball jackpot awarded in April 2025, according to the Smoking Gun website.
Hitting that jackpot left them with deciding whether to collect the full amount in annual increments over 29 years or immediately in a one-time, lump sum of $77.3m.
Farthing and his family said they would talk with a financial adviser before choosing the better option for them.
As Farthing put it, the win resulted from playing the odds. “I’m always buying [lottery tickets] ’cause I’m like, ‘Somebody’s gotta win,’” he later told WKYT.
It was a matter of days before he recorded another brush with the law – when officials in Florida said he hit a hotel guest in the face, kicked a deputy and violated his parole conditions by leaving Kentucky without permission.
He pleaded guilty to that case in early March as part of a deal requiring him to pay $1,000 in fines but sparing him any additional jail time, WKYT reported.
Furthermore, in February, Kentucky authorities arrested Farthing on allegations that he tried to intimidate a participant of a legal process. Investigators said the alleged victim in that case reported meeting Farthing and being pressured into ingesting a marijuana edible. The woman later reportedly called police and reported that people with a weapon wanted to hurt her.
Officers who responded to the scene alleged that they found marijuana and a gun. And as the alleged victim was being questioned, police accused Farthing of sending her a text message which read, “Why would you do this to me? Unreal. I’d never hurt you.”
Farthing was tentatively due in court in the burglary case on Monday and on the intimidation charge on Thursday. He also reportedly has an separate hit-and-run case pending.
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