A morality tale - a fool and her money:
For eight years, Janite Lee lived the good life.
She moved into a gated community in Town and Country. She dined with world leaders. She had a reading room at Washington University's law school named for her.
But by July, the $18 million lottery winner had run through it all. Lee filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
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Lee skyrocketed into political prominence in 1997, when she sought to be the luncheon chairwoman for a local fund-raising event for President Bill Clinton. She backed up that request with campaign checks for $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
Lee sat next to Clinton at that luncheon. Her generosity soon touched off a stampede among prominent Missouri Democrats seeking campaign donations. All told, she donated $277,000 to various candidates over the next three years. That included $2,000 to Hillary Clinton's successful New York bid for the U.S. Senate last year.
The largest chunk - $84,000 - went to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt's various campaign committees. Another $10,000 went to various committees tied to Attorney General Jay Nixon's unsuccessful 1998 bid for the U.S. Senate.
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Gambling and credit card debt also cost her a bundle. Last year alone, Lee lost nearly $347,000 at several casinos in the St. Louis area, according to court filings. She racked up about $37,000 charged to several credit cards.
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