Whittaker
CHARLESTON - Powerball winner Jack Whittaker has been ordered by a Kanawha Circuit Court judge to honor the terms of an agreement with a woman who said he assaulted her in 2004.
Judge Tod Kaufman also ordered Whittaker to pay $5,000 in court costs and attorney's fees, in addition to the settlement.
The settlement is between Rhonda L. Lilly and Whittaker. Lilly is one of three women who worked at Tri-State Racing and Gaming Center, who filed a suit against Whittaker, seeking damages after he allegedly assaulted them. Lilly's suit was filed March 23, 2004.
On May 26, 2006, Whittaker entered into a confidential settlement with Lilly, but never paid her, Lilly claims.
So, on Feb. 16, 2007, Lilly filed another case against Whittaker, seeking the settlement money. Whittaker responded with a letter that said, "On 9-11 a team of crooks went to 12 different City Nat. Banks cashed 12-Cks and got all my money I intend to pay but can't without any money."
Whittaker also filed a countersuit, claiming Lilly defamed him, but Kaufman dismissed the case. Kaufman also denied the request to amend Whittaker's response to Lilly's lawsuit.
Another of the women, Kitti K. French, also filed a suit against Whittaker, seeking settlement payment, but her suit has not yet been settled.
Whittaker has been in the spotlight since December 2002, when he won the then-single largest Powerball lottery payout, taking home $113 million. Most recently, Whittaker entered into an undisclosed settlement with the family of a man who died of a drug overdose in Whittaker's home in 2004.
He has also had several other run-ins with the law, including a DUI charge in 2004 and other assault charges.