Source: Courtesy of OWN and Discovery / OWN and Discovery
According to new reports, 2015 Powerball winner Marie Holmes is now being sued by her ex-fiancé, Lamarr “Hot Sauce” McDow. After Holmes won a $188 million jackpot, she and McDow continuously made headlines for their tumultuous and fairly expensive relationship, including tens of millions in bond money being paid by her over the course of four arrests to help bail him out of a variety of serious offenses.
Back in 2016, McDow defended his then-fiancée’s decision to repeatedly pay his bail, telling The Daily Mail, “If I had that money then I would do the same for her. People are just jealous because of how much she won, and people want to see me locked in jail.” Additionally, he told the outlet that, “she [Holmes] is standing by her man.”
As reported by North Carolina’s NBC affiliate WECT 6, McDow is claiming that, during that same year (2016), as he was preparing to begin a seven-year prison sentence for 2014 drug trafficking charges, he decided to appoint Holmes as the “agent” of his assets. “Mr. McDow authorized Ms. Holmes to store, maintain, and protect his real and personal property during his incarceration,” the lawsuit reads.
Because of Holmes’s upgraded status in their relationship, things got even more complicated when the couple split in 2017. It was then that McDow allegedly learned that Holmes had started dating other people. In the new lawsuit, he claims that in the months that followed, Holmes sold off what McDow considered to be his own personal property. The items were some of the things she lavished on him when they were together, including “a $250,000 modified Chevrolet Stingray, $100,000 worth of clothes and jewelry, and a $600,000 auto restoration business, along with other large purchases,” according to WECT.
But because McDow made Holmes the agent of his assets while he is serving time, he is now suing because he feels that she was in the wrong for selling off the gifts she gave him without his permission. The lawsuit further details McDow’s reasoning, noting, “Ms. Holmes’ unconditional obligation to act in the best interests of Mr. McDow didn’t stop because Ms. Holmes and Mr. McDow’s relationship ended.”
All things being considered, the case has more complexities due to the fact that some of the gifts given were actually registered under Holmes’ name, like the car and the business. McDow is seeking “compensation for the assets he claims were his” and “punitive damage.”
McDow and Holmes also share two kids. He is set to be released from prison in 2023.
