The Fortune and Misfortune Surrounding Big Lottery Jackpot Winners

America will be holding its collective breath ahead of Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, and while the top prize is often seen as a blessing, it can also be a curse. 

If you hit the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot, you could buy 40 amazing mansions in the sky inside a Manhattan high-rise.

Attorney Ann-Margaret Carrozza told Inside Edition that there can be risks with becoming an overnight billionaire.

"70 percent of all lottery winners will be dead broke off the big win. So, the most important thing to do is not spend your money like a drunken sailor," she said. "Don’t make loans to everyone who asks, because they all will." 

Mary and Brian Lohse won $202 million in 2012. They're great examples of sharing good fortune with others. They built a grocery store in their hometown in Iowa where there hadn't been one before. 

Jacki and Gilbert Cisneros of San Diego, California, won $266 million and are also paying it forward with an educational foundation.

But winning the jackpot can also go the other way.

Rhoda Toth blew her entire $13 million Florida lottery jackpot she won in 1990. She also wound up in prison for tax fraud.

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