Gambling addict spent $1 million on lottery tickets

Adam Osmond was once one of the most prolific gamblers in the United States.

He used to run two convenience stores in Connecticut, and between 2002 and 2008 he started spending thousands of dollars on the lottery in his store every week.

He says: "The only reason why I was in that business was to support my addiction."

Adam also explains that he was hiding the tickets from his family because he was buying them in such large quantities.

"I was so addicted to gambling that it took over my life."

One of Adam's friends explains that he knew what he was doing was destroying himself and his family.

In March 2008 Adam suffered a nervous breakdown after more than a decade of compulsive gambling.

He said the Connecticut Lottery called him at one point because he was unable to pay for the tickets he was printing.

Although, by law, the lottery should have stopped his machine from printing tickets, they didn't and Adam was able to continue.

For three weeks Adam printed over $250,000 worth of tickets before his machine was finally shut down.

He then became the first and only gambling addict to be convicted for printing tickets.

After being charged he was ordered to pay the sum of the tickets printed, despite never having cashed any of them in.

When this happened Adam's wife and three daughters had to move to Virginia to live with family members.

In 2015, seven years after his conviction, a new judge reviewed Adam's case and found his original penalty to be illegal.

Now Adam no longer has to pay back the money from the remaining uncashed tickets.