Lottery Winner Loses as Court Tallies His Debts
- Share via
RIVERSIDE — Joseph M. Frontino thought he had won $10,000 Oct. 28 when he spun the state’s “Big Spin” lottery wheel.
But he went home from court Tuesday empty-handed after Superior Court Commissioner Carver E. Honn formally divided up the winnings.
His former wife, Karrie Ellen Larsen of San Luis Obispo, received $3,000 for previously unpaid child support for their 14-year-old daughter, and two counties got reimbursed for welfare payments: Riverside County got $3,000 and Butte County got $2,000. The federal government also took a $2,000 chunk for income taxes.
Frontino, 33, won the money in the state’s first “Big Spin,” but Riverside County prosecutors got a court order and the court held the winnings until the ruling Tuesday. He owed $11,600 in child support and welfare reimbursements, prosecutors said.
“(Larsen) is going to get a $3,000 Christmas present,” said Riverside County Assistant Dist. Atty. John L. Replogle III. “She knows and she is ecstatic.”
Frontino won as well, in a way, Replogle said.
“He’s getting more out of debt than he was before,” the prosecutor said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
