The Arkansas lottery’s first big winner in a scratch-off game is facing a felony charge after allegedly soliciting an undercover police officer for sex in a public park, authorities said Wednesday.
Joseph K. Pierce, 34, of Van Buren won the $100,000 prize from a $5 scratch-off ticket Sunday. When he claimed his prize Tuesday, he told reporters he planned to use the money on a house, a car and on his wife and children — a 13-year-old and a daughter born last week.
But later that day, he turned himself into Sebastian County jailers to begin serving a 10-day sentence stemming from his Aug. 22 arrest.
A Fort Smith police report claims Pierce approached a male undercover officer on a walking trail along the Clayton Expressway.
Pierce “approached an undercover detective and agreed to allow the detective to perform oral sex on him,” the police report reads. “Pierce exposed himself to the detective during this encounter.”
The officer arrested Pierce and said he found three morphine or methadone pills concealed inside a flashlight on Pierce’s keyring.
Pierce later entered into a plea deal over the misdemeanor charges stemming from his arrest, pleading guilty and receiving a 10-day sentence. A judge also banned Pierce from public parks in the western Arkansas city.