$188 million dollar lottery winner bails boyfriend out with $9 million bail

A prosecutor says a woman who won the lottery spent $3 million bond that got her drug suspect boyfriend out of jail earlier this year. Now that suspect is back behind bars under a bond that’s twice as high and she bailed him out again with $6 mil.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Thomas said that Marie Holmes paid for the bond that set Lamarr McDow free in March just weeks after she won a $188 million Powerball jackpot. 


It was widely rumored at the time that Holmes, who Thomas referred to as McDow’s fiancee, had put up the money, but court records showed only information on payment of the bond from 3 bail bondsmen, who do not have to disclose who paid them to post the bond.

Brunswick County Sheriff’s deputies arrested McDow, 31, again on Friday afternoon for allegedly violating the curfew requirements of his pre-trial release on GPS monitoring, BCSO spokeswoman Emily Flax said.

She said when deputies got to the home McDow shares with Holmes on Boverie Street in the Rutledge neighborhood in Shallotte, there was a strong odor of marijuana inside, so they got a search warrant.

During that search around 10 p.m. Flax says deputies found a gun and charged McDow with possession of a firearm by a felon. In court today the state said the gun is registered to Holmes, but that McDow had handled it, which led to the charge.

McDow, who investigators have said is a validated gang member who goes by the street name “Hot Sauce,” is back in jail under more than $6 million bond.

Officers say they also found marijuana in the home, which led to charges for Holmes and two other people in the house. Another person was charged with resisting an officer.

Holmes, 26, walked away with nearly $88 million out of the $188 million, after taking the lump sum and paying taxes on her mid-February Powerball win.

It didn’t take long for Marie’s decision to catch up with her.  Both she and Lamarr were arrested just days later for allegedly violating the terms of Lamarr’s release on bail.  But money can apparently solve a lot of problems, as the woman reportedly bailed her man out again, this time for $6 million to allow him to be free while awaiting trial on new charges.

Marie defended herself vehemently on Facebook against those who criticized her decision to bail Lamarr out of jail:

“What Y’all need to be worried about is Y’all money and not how I spend mine this is benefitting Y’all how? And no he’s no drug dealer or user but who are Y’all to judge anybody? I will definitely pray for Y’all because it’s much need…they talked about Jesus so I’m not surprised Y’all are talking about me but be blessed though,” she said after bailing out her boyfriend.

McDow’s criminal history includes convictions for assault on a female, assault and several counts of drug possession dating back to 2000.



ABC News