$5.7 Million Slots Winner Pays For Wife's Crimes

An Arizona man who recently won $5,707,069 on a casino slot machine has forked out $361,184 of his winnings to help settle his wife’s outstanding debt related to a 2007 felony theft conviction.
Kimberly Lemke was recently released from prison after spending 3 years behind bars having cheated three elderly victims out of nearly $370,000 over several years. As Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne explains:
“She was a caregiver for elderly people and she had access to their accounts so she took some of the money that way. She got one of the women’s husbands to loan her $100,000 under representation that she was about to come into a lot of money.”
Currently on a 7 year probationary period, Lemke’s unemployed husband Gerald Phillips Jr., is also an ex-convict and has spent time in prison for multiple offenses. However, April Friday the 13th proved a lucky day for Mr Phillips, 51, who was given $200 of his wife’s $700 income-tax refund before setting off on a four hour round trip to Casino Arizona near Scottsdale. He then won the massive multi-million dollar slots jackpot, declaring at the time; “We are still going to be the same penny-pinchers we’ve always been.”
Nevertheless, after news of Gerald Phillips Jr’s $5.7 million win hit media outlets, the daughter of one of his wife’s victims recognized Kimberly Lemke’s name and so called the Office of Victim Services. Subsequently, Kimberly Lemke was ordered to pay in full her restitution with Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne now confirming his office has received the owed money.
Commenting on the situation, Horne said: “This case has a happy ending because of an unexpected windfall. I want to recognize the hard work of our attorneys and our victims’ rights advocates to ensure that the victims in this matter finally received the full restitution they deserved.”