Convicted Robber May Be Unlucky Lottery Winner

Timothy Elliott is a convicted bank robber who is presently on parole. In 2001, Elliott had pleaded guilty to armed robbery. Last year, he pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery at a Cape Cod bank and was ordered to undergo treatment through the Department of Mental Health. He claimed he robbed the money to pay off gambling debts. Under conditions of his probation Elliot was ordered "to not gamble, purchase lottery tickets, or visit establishments where gaming is conducted including restaurants where Keno may be played.

A week ago Elliot bought a $10 scratch off lottery ticket at the Stop and Shop in Hyannis, Massachusetts and was the winner of $1 million. Elliott already has collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from Massachusetts' lottery commission. It was later discovered that he was not supposed to be gambling. The state probation commissioner's office has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 7 in Barnstable Superior Court to determine whether Elliott violated his probation when he bought the $10 ticket. If so they have to decide what will happen with Elliott's winnings. Lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfiled said, "This has never happened before as far as we know. It's new territory."

I have discussed this with several friends and we have debated what should happen. Does he keep the money and go to jail for the parole violation, or should he forfeit the winnings because he was not supposed to gamble? What do you think?