$167 Million Powerball Winner Arrested Again After Walmart Parking Lot Discovery

A record-breaking lottery ticket changed James Farthing’s bank balance. Nearly 17 months later, he is making headlines for another arrest.

The Kentucky Powerball winner was taken into custody September 20 after officers found him asleep inside a running Ford Mustang in a Walmart parking lot, according to local reporting citing an arrest citation.

It was his fifth reported arrest since the April 2025 jackpot win. The latest charge is alcohol intoxication in a public place.

The encounter began shortly before 3 a.m., when a caller reported a white Mustang stopped in a Georgetown intersection. The vehicle then moved into the nearby Walmart lot and parked near electric vehicle charging stations, according to the Scott County Sheriff’s Office citation reviewed by LEX 18.

Officers found Farthing, 51, asleep in the passenger seat and repeatedly knocked on the window before he woke up, WKYT reported.

Deputies reported slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, poor balance and the smell of alcohol and marijuana.

Farthing told them a woman had driven him there and left, according to the citation. But deputies said surveillance footage showed nobody getting out of the Mustang before officers arrived.

He was booked into the Scott County Detention Center. His attorney declined to comment to LEX 18. The reported charge was public intoxication; the account does not establish a DUI conviction or resolve the disputed question of who drove.

The parking lot arrest is a striking turn from the celebration that introduced Farthing to the public.

Known as Shannon in Powerball’s official announcement, he bought a $2 ticket at a Georgetown convenience store that matched every number in the April 26, 2025, drawing. He and his mother, Linda Grizzle, presented the ticket two days later and planned to split the prize.

“It’s going to be a good Mother’s Day,” Grizzle said at the time. “This is going to pay off my debt.”

The widely reported $167.3 million figure was the jackpot’s annuity value. Powerball’s official winners list records that the pair selected the $77.3 million cash option, before taxes—a substantial distinction from Farthing personally pocketing $167 million.

His first arrest after the win followed a confrontation at a Florida resort just days later. Authorities accused him of striking another guest and kicking a responding deputy. Sheriff’s body-camera footage published by FOX 13 shows the encounter. WKYT subsequently reported that he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and resisting an officer.

A February 2026 arrest involved an accusation of intimidating a participant in a legal proceeding. Another arrest followed in March on burglary and marijuana charges—but that case ended with a dismissal.

At a May hearing, Farthing’s former girlfriend testified that money she had reported stolen was actually misplaced. The charges were dismissed, according to WKYT’s courtroom reporting. That outcome matters when tallying his arrests: an arrest does not necessarily lead to a conviction.

In July, Farthing was arrested on first-degree strangulation and fourth-degree assault charges following an alleged domestic violence incident. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and a judge imposed a $15,000 cash bond and a monitoring requirement intended to alert the alleged victim if he approached her.

Now the Walmart incident has added another charge to his legal troubles. The allegations in that case remain unproven.