Ex-Con Sex Offender Wins Mega Millions

This guy has done several stretches in jail and if it weren't for plea bargains, he'd probably still be in the joint for sexual assault on a 13-year-year-old.

Alas, he hits the lottery.

Michigan's latest Mega Millions millionaire doesn't owe the state a penny for his five years of room and board in prison.

Any debt to society for the Kent City man's keep was cleared when he went free.

As word of Fred Topous' $57 million winning ticket spread, prison officials on Wednesday asked the attorney general's office if costs for time he served in prison could be recovered, as is allowed in some cases.

Wednesday's answer: No.

Topous, in prison or on parole for all but three years since 1984 for three separate convictions, was discharged from the Department of Corrections on Oct. 20, 2006, after successfully completing two years on parole, a corrections official said.

That means the attorney general can't go after any of his assets as it has with others, including Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

"As long as you've been discharged from the Michigan Department of Corrections, we can't start litigation to cover the cost of his care," said Rusty Hills, spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox.

"It's his good luck and our bad luck."

Well, this is America and the man served his time, so be it.

Besides, he's not the first reported sex offender to hit the lottery in recent years.