Richard Twohy has led a life where he isn’t shy of his opinions.

It’s been this way since his years as a law student in at NYU in New York City in the 1960’s or as a successful California trial attorney in the 1970’s. In Iowa City, Twohy’s name often shows up in newspapers on a variety of current legal or political subjects.

He backpacked around the globe for two years and even was on Wheel of Fortune, back when they still gave out low-end prizes instead of just cash.

Yet Twohy, 64, also lost plenty along the way because of drug use. “I’ve gotten used to a life of functional poverty because of a life of crack cocaine poisoning. It completely got in the way of everything in my life.”

Drug abuse led to Twohy moving to Iowa City 18 years ago, where he lives on a modest monthly disability check. Yet he admits he still craves the ‘action’. Not drugs but lottery tickets. “I’m an addictive personality,” Twohy said.

On August 3rd, Twohy paid $20 for a pair of Iowa Lottery Bingo Times 10 scratch-off tickets. The first one was like so many others for him, a loser. The second ticket was worth a second take.

Twohy held a lottery ticket that not only held the top prize but also had a ‘10X’ symbol, maximizing Twohy’s winnings to $250,000. He went back in to check.

“I thought the machine was just broken but it turned out it was just a winner,” said Naomi Keasler of the Kum and Go on East Burlington Street in Iowa City.

With a prize claim for $250,000 in his pocket, Twohy spent the following weeks and months sorting out his future. “I know I’m going to meet relatives I never knew I had.”

At the Iowa Lottery office in Cedar Rapids, Twohy walked out with a certified check for $175,000. 25% is taken out for federal taxes with another 5% for state taxes.

Recognizing this quick influx of cash and his self-admitted ‘attention deficit hyperactivity disorder’, Twohy says that he has been sober for 18 years and still attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to remember what he has been through. Instead of self destruction, Twohy is focusing on helping out his family and he also wants to help out some of the causes he believes in.