James Farthing, who won a $167.3 million jackpot last year, pleaded not guilty after his latest arrest.
LEXINGTON, KY — A Kentucky man who won the state’s largest Powerball jackpot last year was arrested for a third time since his win after police accused him of breaking into a Lexington home and taking $12,000 in cash.
James Farthing’s latest case has renewed attention on a winner who made headlines in April 2025 for claiming a $167.3 million prize and then quickly returned to court in unrelated criminal cases. Farthing, 51, now faces a second-degree burglary charge and a marijuana possession charge in Fayette County. The case matters now because it adds a new felony accusation to a string of legal problems that were still active as he stood before a judge this week.
According to court records and local reporting, Farthing was arrested Saturday, March 28, after a woman told police someone entered her home on Kenesaw Drive in Lexington. The arrest citation says the homeowner saw a man at a side door on her security cameras and then heard a loud noise that sounded like a door being forced open. After the person left, she reported that $12,000 in cash kept inside the house was missing. Police later arrested Farthing and also charged him with possession of marijuana. He was released the next day after bond was posted. In Fayette District Court on Monday, Farthing entered a not guilty plea. When reporters tried to question him after the hearing, he and his lawyer first said, “No comment.” As he stepped toward an elevator, he added, “You all have a good day.”
The new accusation came less than a year after Farthing became a statewide headline for a very different reason. The winning Powerball ticket for the April 26, 2025, drawing was sold at Clark’s Pump N Shop in Georgetown, and Kentucky Lottery records described the $167.3 million prize as the largest Powerball jackpot ticket sold in the state. Farthing later appeared with family members as the ticket was verified, and the cash option tied to the prize was reported at $77.3 million before taxes. His sudden wealth drew national notice, but the legal record that followed became part of the story almost immediately. Within weeks of the jackpot claim, Farthing was arrested in Florida after an altercation that led to misdemeanor charges. Earlier this year, he also picked up a charge in Scott County. In Fayette County, he still has an active hit-and-run case. The burglary prosecution now places yet another court file on top of those pending matters.
Officials have released only limited detail about the newest case beyond the arrest citation and the booking charges. The citation says the homeowner’s cameras showed a suspect at the side door and that the resident later discovered the missing cash. Public reports have identified the location as Kenesaw Drive. What has not been publicly explained in detail is whether investigators recovered the missing money, whether prosecutors believe anyone else was involved, or whether surveillance footage has been filed into the court record. Farthing’s attorney did not publicly discuss the allegation during Monday’s appearance. That leaves the case at an early stage, with the police version of events on one side and a not guilty plea on the other. In criminal court, that plea does not address guilt or innocence; it simply means the case will move forward unless it is dismissed or resolved by agreement.
The broader context is unusual enough that each new arrest has drawn outsized attention. Farthing’s first major post-jackpot legal case came in Florida after authorities accused him of battery and resisting an officer during an incident shortly after the lottery win. In March 2026, local reporting said he had pleaded guilty in that case and was ordered to pay fines without additional jail time. Then came the Scott County case in February. Deputies there responded to a home on Cynthiana Road after a woman said she feared for her safety while inside a residence where a weapon was present. Reporting on that case said investigators accused Farthing of trying to influence the woman’s statements while she was speaking with deputies, leading to a charge of intimidating a participant in the legal process. Prosecutors have not publicly tied those earlier cases to the Lexington burglary, but together they form the background against which the newest accusation is being judged in public.
The legal path ahead is clearer than the facts that are still in dispute. Farthing’s next court date in the Fayette County burglary case is set for April 27. Between now and then, prosecutors can turn over additional evidence, defense lawyers can seek records, and the judge can address scheduling or bond issues if either side raises them. The pending Scott County intimidation charge is also still moving through court, and the Fayette County hit-and-run matter remains unresolved. The Florida case appears to be the farthest along because it already ended in a plea. That means Farthing is now dealing with several separate legal tracks at once: one case resolved in Florida, one fresh felony burglary case in Lexington, and at least two Kentucky matters still pending. Whether any of those files affect each other procedurally is not yet clear from the public record.
The scene around Monday’s court appearance matched the strange arc of the case. A man once photographed as the winner of a record lottery prize arrived in court to answer accusations that he entered a private home and left with cash. Reporters waited outside the courtroom because the story had already spread beyond Kentucky, carried by the contrast between a life-changing windfall and repeated arrests. Farthing did not offer a public explanation. His attorney did not give one either. That left the courtroom moment defined less by argument than by the sharp split between public image and court paperwork. The lottery win remains a fact of the story because it is the reason the defendant became widely known. The prosecution, though, will turn on ordinary criminal questions: what the cameras show, what investigators can prove, whether witnesses hold up in court, and whether the state can connect Farthing to the missing money beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case now stands at the arraignment stage, with Farthing out on bond and due back in Fayette District Court on April 27. Until then, the public record shows a not guilty plea, active charges in multiple Kentucky cases, and a new burglary prosecution that has kept the Powerball winner in the news.
Author note: Last updated April 2, 2026.