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Amanda Clayton

Amanda Clayton, 24, from Lincoln Park, Mich. (photo courtesy CNN/WDIV)

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Troubled Mich lottery winner found dead

25-year-old Amanda Clayton

Updated: Monday, 01 Oct 2012, 1:46 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 01 Oct 2012, 1:46 PM EDT

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (AP) - A lawyer says public scrutiny was a burden for a Michigan lottery winner who died a few months after being prosecuted for welfare fraud.

Todd Flood represented Amanda Clayton when the attorney general's office filed charges against her. The 25-year-old was found dead of a possible drug overdose Saturday at a Detroit-area home.

In 2011, Clayton won a $735,000 lottery prize, before taxes. Earlier this year, she was charged with fraud after a TV station reported that she continued to receive $5,400 in public benefits despite the windfall.

Flood says Clayton probably didn't have the maturity to handle the lump-sum winnings, much like other people with sudden riches. He says Clayton had some money left but it was a "far cry" from where she started.

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