The Tonda Dickerson Story: How Winning the Lottery Led to Disaster

Most people imagine that winning the lottery would be the best thing to ever occur in their lives. Unfortunately, reality can often be a lot grimmer than our wildest imagination, and the Tonda Dickerson story stands as evidence of the claim.

If you’re looking for real horror stories, you’re in for a ride. So, buckle up and prepare to be gagged by just how incredibly outrageous this one is.

A Disaster in the Making: Tonda Dickerson Wins the Lottery

Tonda Dickerson – a waitress from Florida was in her 20s and divorced at the time her story began.

In 1999, Tonda received a Florida Lottery ticket as a tip from a customer called Edward Seward. Edward was a regular at the Waffle House in Grand Bay, where Tonda worked. He was known for that little quirk, and he often shared lottery tickets with the wait staff that served him.

Tonda received her lottery tip in an envelope, alongside four other colleagues who got a similar tip. Little did she know at the time that the ticket carried a 10-million-dollar prize.

What are the chances of winning at Greece Lotto?

On the day of the drawing, all five employees opened their envelopes to check their contents. Four of them did not win anything. The fifth one was Tonda Dickerson – America’s newest lottery millionaire.

Tonda Lynn Dickerson chose annuity payments for 30 years. She was to receive 375,000 dollars per year during the next three decades. Choosing annuity pay is the smart thing to do. For a start, the payment option enables the winner to receive a more substantial sum. Also, annuity payments can prevent lottery millionaires from overspending on self-destructive stuff and blowing through the cash at the speed of light.

At the time, Tonda Lynn Dickerson was so extremely happy. She was ecstatic about the prospect of never having to work again to make her money. Little did she know that the fairytale wasn’t going to be one of those with a happy ending.

Tonda Under Attack

The Tonda Dickerson lottery win, unfortunately, brought out the worst in people. Soon after winning, the young woman found herself caught up in multiple legal battles.

Relatives, coworkers, and even Edward Seward (the man who gave Tonda the lottery ticket as a tip) initiated lawsuits against her.

According to her colleagues, all of the workers at the Waffle House had agreed – in the event of any one of them winning the lottery; they’d all share the prize. Tonda, however, denied that such an agreement had been reached.

“Rats coming out of the woodwork,” – that’s how Tonda’s attorney described her colleagues. Initially, Tonda was offered a three-million-dollar out-of-court settlement, but she turned it down. Later on, the court ruled against her and ordered Tonda to split the millions with her coworkers. Upon appeal, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the decision.

Edward Seward’s lawsuit came in next. It was initiated in 2002, and Seward insisted that Toda had agreed to buy him a new truck in the event of winning the lottery.

Criminal Masterminds and Tragic Events

The same week that Edward Seward decided to sue, Tonda Dickerson was the worst one in her life. The lawsuit was just the beginning.

When it comes to lottery winners’ stories, there are some pretty grim occurrences. People have been robbed and murdered after becoming millionaires. Tonda Lynn Dickerson’s story isn’t as tragic, but she didn’t have it easy.

Tonda divorced her husband back in 1997. After she won the lottery, Stacy Martin decided to kidnap his ex-wife. Martin lunged at Tonda while she was driving in her truck. He threatened to kill her and took her on a boat at Bayou Heron – a pretty secluded area.

While all of this was happening, Tonda’s phone rang. Martin agreed to let her take the call. Reaching into her purse, Tonda took out a handgun and shot him in the right side of the chest. Martin survived, took the gun from Tonda, and once again threatened to shoot her. Tonda, however, convinced him to seek medical attention for the wound.

There are no records of Martin being charged with anything after attacking his ex-wife.

Tonda Dickerson Now: Where Is She?

Everything that Tonda went through shows you just how difficult it can be to handle new wealth and maintain a normal life.

Where is Tonda Dickerson today, and what’s Tonda Dickerson’s net worth? Interesting that you ask since the story didn’t end with the attempted kidnapping.

There is one more entity involved in the ordeal, and that’s the IRS.

For years, the IRS undertook actions against Tonda Dickerson. The service demanded approximately one million dollars in the form of a gift tax. Tonda took the IRS to court, and it was eventually established that the service was in the wrong.

The gift tax was demanded on top of the income tax that Tonda had already paid. The court established that no such tax was owed.

According to the court, the Florida Lottery ticket that Tonda owned was worth a fraction of the advertised value because of the claims and the lawsuits initiated by coworkers at the Waffle House. As a result, Tonda was finally left alone.

There is very little information about where Tonda Dickerson is today and how she lives her life. Multiple media have attempted to contact her but without any success. Tonda’s social media profiles show she currently works as a poker dealer at a casino.

Some reports suggest that Tonda eventually gave away most of her money to family members. The hefty amount was used to launch a business. We don’t know if this is the case. The only thing we hope is that Tonda has finally come across a chance to lead her life calmly and peacefully.