Powerball, Marie Holmes: $188 Million Winner Pays Off Mistresses, Drug Charges, And Unkempt Mansion?


Powerball winner Marie Holmes and Iyanla Vanzant of Iyanla: Fix My Life had major work to do. Holmes won the $188 million Powerball in North Carolina’s lottery in February of 2015. The major drama that followed shortly after her Powerball win prompted the Oprah Winfrey Network to step in and help this girl out.

The North Carolina Powerball lottery winner stirred up controversy after she was charged with possession of marijuana and posted $21 million to get her boyfriend, Lamarr “Hotsauce” McDow, out of jail three times, the Daily Mail reports.

As reported by the Inquisitr, just a couple weeks after receiving the lump sum payout of $88 million, Holmes used $3 million to bail out her man. In August of 2015, the Powerball winner posted a $6 million bond due to McDow breaking pre-trial release program rules. On New Year’s Day, Holmes paid an additional $12 million after McDow was allegedly involved in an illegal street race. The three bail amounts combined come to an astonishing $21 million.

Marie Holmes strives to gain clarity on life choices on ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life.’ [Image by OWN Network]

It was revealed during the episode “Lotto Drama” of Iyanla Fix My Life that Marie’s now-fiance will be heading to prison for seven years after being charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Just months after Marie won the Powerball, she was charged with possession of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia when the local authorities stormed her home in search of her boyfriend. Holmes seemed numb to many, and Iyanla said she appeared depressed.

“So many people believe that if they had a certain amount of money, they’d be able to live a certain way… Marie is a prime example that if you don’t know who you are, if you don’t have a strong sense of identity and well-being, all the money in the world is not going to fix how you see yourself and how you live.”

The Powerball winner, a single mom of four, was working at Walmart when she took home $88 million, her share of the Powerball lottery. Holmes, 27, is now infamous for how she chose to spend her Powerball winnings. At the time, Holmes saw nothing wrong with sticking by her man to raise her four young children. Holmes’ youngest child, Ebony, whom she shares with McDow, has cerebral palsy. McDow explained this was a major motivation for Marie bailing him out of jail. The convicted criminal says he thinks people are jealous of his relationship with Holmes.

As Eurweb reports, Lamarr says Holmes did not pay $21 million to bail him out — she only had to pay 10 percent of the bond, which equaled to over $200,000. McDow was arrested on drug- and weapon-related charges. The Powerball winner’s fiance has three children from previous relationships.

“We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child…This is what people do for each other. She has the money and she can do what she wants with it… People are just jealous because of how much she won and people want to see me locked up in jail.”

When Holmes won the Powerball jackpot, she bought a sprawling estate in her hometown. One of the first things Iyanla noticed when she arrived unsettled her: Marie’s beautiful estate was actually a plantation. Iyanla sits with the Powerball winner outside her mega North Carolina home.

Marie Holmes’ sprawling $350,000 North Carolina estate. [Image by OWN Network]

“I believe that every location has an energy… So, it was important for me to help Marie recognize and understand that as a black woman living on a plantation, there was an energy that she was dealing with, sitting in, living through—in addition to what was going on in her own personal life.”

Outside of Holmes’ mega plantation home in North Carolina, Iyanla does a series of exercises that are meant to help the Powerball winner understand her circumstance better. Iyanla shows Marie how helping others has financially hurt her.

“A lot of this doesn’t have anything to do with money. It has to do with broken people, with broken hearts with broken minds… that leads to choices and decisions and consequences. Money, never solves a money problem.”

Marie Holmes’ fiance heads to prison in a matter of hours. [Image by OWN Network]

Marie Holmes Lottery Drama: Lawsuits, Drug Charges, And More

Since Holmes took home the Powerball jackpot, she has encountered many problems. The drama that followed after winning the lottery has been just as popular as her lotto win. When asked what she would do with her Powerball millions, Marie moved many with her response.

“Winning [Powerball jackpot] still ‘doesn’t feel real. It’s not going to change the person that I am, but it’s going to change our situation. It’s going to be very fortunate. I am humbled and grateful for the opportunities this has created for my family.”

The Powerball winner was later sued for $10 million dollars by Pastor Kevin Matthews for reneging on a verbal promise, according to JET Mag. Matthews said he experienced emotional and mental distress due to her backing down from a verbal contract. They established to purchase land for a $1.5 million retreat facility.

“Because of the emotional distress and mental stress, they put me through, I had to start taking more medicine for anxiety and depression due to this situation.”

Powerball Winner Paying Women Not To Sleep With Her Boyfriend?

A video was posted on Facebook of an unidentified woman spewing profane statements about Holmes. The woman insisted Lamarr spends the money Holmes gives him to have neighborhood women perform sexual acts with him. The Chicago Defender claims Holmes is being accused of harassing a woman Lamarr McDow supposedly spent money on to have sex with.

Marie Holmes Reveals How Being Slapped In The Face As A Child Impacted Her Life

Holmes struggled in her relationship with her mother, Fontella. During Marie’s childhood, Marie was slapped in the face by her mother, and the psychological impact had a long-term effect. Holmes says she is still perplexed as to why her mother slapped her in the face and not her other siblings. The feelings Holmes has been holding onto for years has affected her relationship with her mother.

Marie Holmes mends broken relationship with mother, Fontella, on ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life.’ [Image by OWN Network]

“I never understood why I was the only child that always got slapped in the face… I questioned, like, if anybody would every genuinely be there for me if I don’t even have my own mom there.

None of them ever got hit in the face, and it made me feel like there was a problem with the relationship that we had, like it wasn’t strong enough… I never understood; like, why did I get treated that way?”

Iyanla explains why slapping someone in the face can have a long-term effect.

“A slap in the face is the ultimate act of humiliation because your face is how you show up in the world. It’s who you are… So when someone slaps your face, what they’re saying is, ‘I am degrading you. I am diminishing you. I am humiliating you.'”

Fontella expressed her regret to her daughter. Iyanla then told both women what they need to know to begin to move forward.


RELATED MARIE HOLMES ARTICLES FROM INQUISITR:

Powerball Winner Marie Holmes Charged With Marijuana Possession, Police Bust $188 Million Dollar Winner While Trying To Arrest A Felon
Marie Holmes $188 Million Powerball Winner Posts $21 Million Bail For ‘Drug Dealer’ Boyfriend As He Sports Rolex
Powerball Winner Marie Holmes Boyfriend Charged For Third Time, Will She Pay $10,000 Bond?
Powerball Lotto Winner Marie Holmes Sued For $10 Million Dollars By Pastor Kevin Matthews
Powerball Lottery Marie Holmes Winner Makes Terroristic Threat Phone Calls Against Fiance’s Alleged Mistress


How Marie Holmes Really Won The Powerball Lottery

A major revelation was made by the Powerball winner’s mother, Fontella. Apparently, Marie gave Fontella the money to buy a ticket, however, Fontella is the one who chose the winning Powerball numbers. Holmes learns those random winning Powerball numbers weren’t random at all.

“I kept dreaming about your brother that we lost… His birthday… he was the third child… he’d have been 25 that year. And those were the [winning Powerball] numbers.”

“So you picked the numbers?” Marie asked her mother.

Fontella said she simply wanted Marie to have a better life with her children.

Holmes processed the information and said she wishes she would have known this fact sooner.

“Because then it would be her and not me. I mean, I would be happy for her for winning [Powerball] it.”

Marie expressed gratitude to her mother for the $188 million sacrifice. Fontella says it’s a sacrifice she wanted to make.

“If I could do it all over again, I’d have still did it the same way I did it… I want you to better yourself and be the better mom than I was.”

[Featured Image by Iyanla: Fix My Life/OWN Network]

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