Winners & Losers: Timothy Elliott Plays the Lottery

Last week, The Boston Globe reported on a Cape Cod hard luck case whose ship finally came in - only to find that it may have to be scuttled.

Timothy Elliott is a 55-year-old bank robber who looks like Santa Claus, but who may end up getting Scrooged.

Last week, he scratched a lottery ticket and won $50,000 a year for the next twenty years.

Unfortunately, when he pled guilty to unarmed robbery last year, one of the conditions of his parole was that he do no gambling. Included among the things verboten: buying lottery tickets.

It is likely the proviso against gambling stemmed from Elliott's defense that his gambling jones led him to rob banks.  Part of his probation agreement stipulated that he get mental health counseling - by inference, for his gambling addiction.

Getting hooked on gambling is something that I know with absolute certainty will never happen to me.

The few times I've been to casinos, it's been with a roll of quarters for the slots. Roll used up? Night's over.

Given the nature of slot machines, a roll of quarters can last you a couple of hours, but it's been known to last a couple of minutes. So be it.

I've been to the track a few times, but I'm strictly a $2 on the horse whose name I like bettor.

As for the lottery, I play occasionally, especially when the prize is sizable. I buy my quick-pick number and spend a day or so fantasizing about what a Lady Bountiful I'd be if I won. Then I forget I have the ticket, until I find it a few weeks later. And when I check the ticket I'm lucky if I have one matching number, let alone six. Easy come, easy go.

But I do see people in the grocery store, the 7-11, and at Bob's locksmith kiosk in downtown Boston, where I usually buy my losing tickets, who are spending big bucks on all sorts of games. And some of the folks shelling out $50, $100, $200 on tickets don't look like they have two nickels to rub together - or even one nickel to rub their scratch tickets with.

So I get that people get hooked on gambling - and there's obviously worse ways to get hooked on gambling than buying scratch tickets, e.g., making large sports bets with leg-breaking bookies.

Who knows what it was with Elliott, but it was obviously something ample enough to cause him to try to rob a bank over.

Now he's facing a hearing for violating his probation. What could happen? Word on the street is that he could be thrown into prison for said violation and/or not be allowed to keep his lottery winnings.

Both of these seem like pretty terrible outcomes, especially for a middle aged guy with what can only be exceedingly limited career prospects, given his record.

If I were the judge, I'd make sure that Elliott knows he needs to stay in counseling. I'd then let him keep the money - he bought the scratch ticket, he didn't steal it - but I'd make someone else the guardian of the funds, at least for a few years - maybe for the entire 20 year run of the lottery pay out. 

I believe I heard that Elliott is homeless. $35K (the yearly after tax amount) isn't a lot of money, but it could certainly pay for a modest apartment and cover modest expenses. The guy clearly could use some help, so, rather than leave him out there on his own, have some social service agency find a place for him. Ideally, it would be in a supportive environment where ex-cons, recovering addicts, and others who need help reintegrating - or integrating for the first time - into society can find the help they need. Including help with finding a job, because at 55, Timothy Elliott needs to find something to do with himself, paid or unpaid, that doesn't involve gambling.

Of course, there aren't a lot of places like this around. Which is too bad. Because there are a lot of people who are down and out, people who've had bad luck and, yes, made bad choices, who need a break.

When you talk to homeless folks about what they want, they all pretty much say the same things: a place to live and a job. (The only ones I've heard say different are severely mentally ill and off their meds.) Timothy Elliott may not need all that much of a job, but like everyone else he needs a place to live.

I do not pretend to know the full story on this fellow's life and life in crime. But living in prison doesn't sound like a great alternative for a 55-year-old gambler who maybe just needs some support to make it on the outside.

Timothy Elliott has something that homeless people - and, let's face it, pretty much all of us - dream about: some free money coming their way. This may be the worst thing in the world that can happen to someone who's addicted to gambling, but it's happened to Timothy Elliott.

Maybe I'm a romantic here, but it seems to me that with a bit of support, this windfall could provide the foundation for a new and better life for Elliott.

Wouldn't it be a kick in the teeth if he found himself back in prison - and out the $1 million - because of it?