US Powerball Winner Charged With Stalking

A prominent Marinette County family has been in the spotlight due to a black sheep in the family. The black sheep in the family is $31 million US Powerball winner whose win led to more notoriety and legal trouble after being accused of stalking a woman. His obsession with the woman almost got him imprison after sentencing took place for stalking and other related charges.

The man’s behavior was brought about by his romantic advances being rejected by the woman he had an obsession with. The 50-year-old US Powerball winner is named Douglas Miron. He will have to serve a year in jail with work-release privileges. He will be going to prison in April and will have to pay $55,000 in fines. After which he will be on probation for four years with the threat of an extra three years in prison if he doesn’t behave himself and follow the rules.

“To some degree, the defendant’s wealth is what I believe motivated him to engage in this sort of out-of-control-I-can-do-whatever-I-want behavior,” said Christopher Liegel, one of the prosecutors in the case. Miron’s attorney, of course, defended the US Powerball winner Mr. Miron and said, “I think there’s the perception, presented to the court, that he won the Powerball lottery and became a jackass. He’s been the same throughout his life, he’s always been one of those persons who wear their emotions on their sleeve.”

Miron’s father is the former county district attorney of Marinette County. His brother is also a circuit judge there. The state Department of Justice prosecuted Douglas Miron’s case and heard by Door County Circuit Judge Todd Ehlers.

“I’m sure your family is going to monitor your behavior very carefully, not that elderly parents should be responsible for doing that for a 51-year-old son,” said Douglas Miron’s family. The family is immensely embarrassed that they are now wrapped up in all this mess in the media.

Charged with nine felonies and a misdemeanor in August 2015 Douglas wasn’t in a good place. He pleaded no contest to two of those felonies, which was stalking and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. Other two misdemeanors of intentionally pointing a gun at someone and resisting an officer were included in the felony charges.

College wasn’t for Douglas unlike his brother, who is now a judge at the same court his case is being heard. He worked as a shipyard contractor and repaired furniture with his other brother who sadly passed away in 2003. His family always thought he was never friends with the best people, and his shady friends influenced him to make bad decisions and have minor scrapes with the law.

Miron’s life wasn’t going too smoothly until he hit the jackpot in October 2009. He chose to receive his lottery winnings as a lump sum payout of $16.7 million. The US Powerball winner jackpot shrank to $11.2 million after taxes. He was now the subject of gossip on everyone’s lips in the area.

With his lottery winnings, he bought a truck, Jaguar, and a house on acreage with a landing strip with his money. He helped out some people struggling financially, and bought others snowmobiles and opened a restaurant where he employed his friends. He had made the impression that he was turning over a new leaf and trying to be a better person.

But that all went downhill when his obsession with a young woman developed. He became interested in a teenager who worked at one of his properties and rented a house to her. He began pursuing the girl, but she rejected his demands.

According to the girl, he tailgated her all the way home from Crandon after she wouldn’t stay in his camper with him. He shone lights on her house, broke in the door, and chased her and her boyfriend on US Highway 41. This resulted in him ramming their car at 80mph. The boyfriend told the police that Douglas even pulled over his father and threatened that he would kill his son if he didn’t leave the teenager alone.

A businessman reported that Douglas pointed a gun at him and asked for his money back after a deal didn’t go as he had initially planned.

The defense attorney said the fines were the bigger punishment. The US Powerball winner had given away millions and had mostly property left.

He accepted the plea deal to relieve his parents from the stress of him going to jail for a long time. He still disputes some of the claims made against him by victims. “I’ve done nothing but help those people. I treated them like my own family. And I’ve learned a lot,” said Douglas.