Texas woman sues state lottery after not receiving controversial $83.5M jackpot
CNN A woman in Texas is suing the state s Lottery Commission for not paying out an million award more than three months after the numbers on her ticket matched the winning numbers in a drawing according to court documents obtained by CNN Every Texan knows what that should mean when it comes to the lottery if you win you should get paid the suit says It shouldn t take a lawsuit to get paid when you win the lottery But that s exactly what has happened here The woman bought her ticket through a lottery courier facility firms which allow customers to purchase tickets virtually using a mobile app or other online interface The woman identified only as Jane Doe in the suit purchased a ticket for the Lotto Texas lottery event through an app called Jackpocket on February and her numbers matched those of the numbers pulled at p m CT the same day according to the lawsuit A week after Doe won her ticket then-Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Ryan Mindell disclosed a move to ban courier services like the one Doe used under Texas law The ban became effective on May according to a lottery commission spokesperson Mindell resigned in April We all know the Commission is not allowed to change the rules after the drawing But the Commission has apparently tried to do so and relied at least in part on this ex post facto announcement to continue to refuse to pay Plaintiff her lottery winnings purely because she utilized a lottery ticket courier amenity to buy the winning ticket the lawsuit says A spokesperson explained CNN in an email Saturday the commission does not comment on pending litigation The lawsuit also alleges Doe s unpaid winnings could be used to pay other Texas Lottery winners or may be reallocated and redirected to other Commission liabilities or purposes potentially reducing the amount owed to her Attorneys for the woman have also filed for a temporary restraining order and requested for a temporary injunction to stop Acting Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission Sergio Rey from doling out funds which the lawsuit alleges Doe still has not received If Mr Rey is not restrained and enjoined from disbursing or diminishing the Plaintiff s jackpot prize winnings Plaintiff will suffer damages that will be incapable of being measured by any certain pecuniary standard before notice is given and a hearing is held on Plaintiff s Application for Temporary Injunction a court document noted CNN has reached out to Texas Gov Greg Abbott s office Jackpocket and Rey for comment What is a lottery courier institution A lottery courier utility acts as a third-party vendor that buys lottery tickets on behalf of customers coordinates the purchase of physical tickets through brick and mortar stores the services often own and notifies buyers if they win Courier services are typically operated online or through an app offering a convenient way to play games Selected couriers even offer national lottery games like Mega Millions and Powerball Lottery couriers which had been operating in Texas since became a focus in April after a single entity bought million lottery tickets in less than hours using a courier operation CNN affiliate WFAA communicated The entity purchased nearly every realizable number combination the release from the governor s office mentioned at the time The investor doubled its money because the jackpot was so high and the winner took home million before taxes WFAA noted Courier services are operating in states according to a record published in by the Florida Office of Venture Protocol Analysis and Administration Accountability Only three states New York New Jersey and Arkansas regulate the courier institution industry according to a Texas House analysis Without such regulations in Texas couriers are not required to obtain a license or permission from the Texas Lottery to operate the record determined Purchasing via a lottery courier has two advantages for the customer declared Victor Matheson professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross It allows the buyer to conveniently buy tickets without having to go to a regular lottery retailer and it also potentially allows out-of-state buyers to purchase tickets in any lottery across the country Matheson declared in February The organization can have drawbacks like a fee legality issues and lack of a limit to how a multitude of tickets are purchased Matheson added Other legal concerns include the regulation of sales across state lines when each state controls its own lottery games sales to underage players ticket buying syndicates and other issues
