Texas woman sues state lottery commission for unpaid $83 million jackpot
A woman in Texas is accusing the state's lottery commission of withholding an $83.5 million jackpot three months after the numbers on her ticket matched the winning numbers in a drawing, according to a new lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed on May 19, says the Montgomery County woman identified as Jane Doe purchased a lottery ticket on the night of Feb. 17 for the 'Lotto Texas' game using the courier service Jackpocket.
The third-party service allows Texans to purchase lottery tickets online from authorized retailers on the customer's behalf. Lottery ticket courier companies are unregulated in Texas. They function by taking lottery ticket orders from players over the phone or online, buying the agreed-upon tickets from licensed lottery retailers and charging fees for purchasing and managing tickets.
Doe's suit says her winning ticket was obtained on her behalf from Winners Corner, a licensed lotto retailer in Austin. The same night of her purchase, her ticket's numbers were drawn for the jackpot prize of $83.5 million, according to the lawsuit.
One week later, the Texas Lottery announced it would be banning the unregulated lottery ticket courier services 'effective immediately.'
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also announced the state would be investigating the win.
'The proliferation of couriers in the state has raised serious concerns that the integrity, security, honesty, and fairness of lottery games is being undermined by the continued activity of courier services,' former Executive Director Ryan Mindell said in the announcement. Mindell resigned in April amid ongoing investigations, and Sergio Rey — who is named in the lawsuit — is now serving as the interim executive director.
A November report from the Texas House found only three states — New York, New Jersey and Arkansas — regulate courier services.
The lawsuit states the commission is 'not allowed to change the rules after the drawing' and is attempting to refuse to pay Doe's winning amount through a retroactive ban.
Doe alleges she presented her ticket to the Texas Lottery Commission on March 18 and was not advised that it was invalid in any way.
'The claim is being reviewed under the Commission's claim validation requirements and is the subject of external investigation,' a spokesperson for the commission told NBC News. 'The agency does not have additional information to provide, as it does not comment on pending litigation and investigations.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Diddy On Trial Diddy's ex: 'I wanted to stop having sex with other men'
The former partner of Sean 'Diddy' Combs has testified about wanting to stop having sex with other men, and told the court about their arguments. 'Jane', who is using a pseudonym to protect her identity, told the court they had both been physically violent and that Diddy 'punched, kicked and dragged her'. 'Jane' will be cross-examined by Sean 'Diddy' Combs' defence team on Tuesday. The judge also gave the government prosecutors a day to respond to a motion for a mistrial that Diddy's legal team filed over the weekend, which alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty speaks to CBS national news correspondent Jericka Duncan about the day in court. Sean 'Diddy' Combs is on trial in New York, facing federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering with conspiracy and transportation for prostitution. He denies all the charges. The Diddy on Trial podcast is here to investigate the rumours, confront the theories, and give you the answers that you need. We also want YOU to be part of the conversation. Have you any questions about the case? Heard a theory that doesn't sit right with you? Get in touch now via WhatsApp: 0330 123 555 1. Details of organisations in the UK offering information and support with some of the issues raised are available at Presenter: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Series Producer: Laura Jones Sound Design: Mark Burrows Senior Digital Producer: Matthew Pintus Production Coordinator: Hattie Valentine Editor: Clare Fordham Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Assistant Commissioner: Will Drysdale Commissioning Producer: Adam Eland Commissioning Assistant Producer: Rechmial Miller
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex-girlfriend says she cried for three days after reading Cassie's lawsuit
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' recent ex-girlfriend told Combs that she cried for three days after reading R&B artist Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura's 2023 lawsuit against the music mogul, a case that described hundreds of drug-laced marathon sex sessions with Combs and other men as 'horrific encounters.' The woman, who is known in court by the pseudonym Jane, testified Monday that she felt like she was 'reading my own sexual trauma' as she read the lawsuit, which was settled within a day for $20 million. She read aloud in Manhattan federal court a text message that she sent Combs three days after the lawsuit was filed in November 2023. She said that she had been crying for three days and felt nauseated. She said three pages of the lawsuit addressing what Cassie referred to as 'freak-offs' and what Jane has called 'hotel nights' followed her experience with the Bad Boy Entertainment founder 'word for word, exactly my experience.' Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey raised the subject of the lawsuit as Jane testified for a third day about her experiences with Combs for over three years until his arrest last September. Cassie testified for four days earlier in the trial, saying she engaged in the weekly sexual performances as Combs mostly watched or filmed her sexual activities with male sex workers in sessions that often lasted for days. Cassie dated Combs for nearly 11 years, ending in 2018. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that could put him in prison from 15 years to life if he is convicted. Prior to bringing up Cassie's lawsuit on Monday, Comey elicited from Jane that she had protested the way Combs was treating her in the weeks before Cassie sued. She read aloud for the jury hundreds of text messages that she had exchanged with Combs, including some in which she complained that he seemed to be forcing her into the sexual encounters by threatening to take away her Los Angeles home. He had begun paying for the residence months earlier. She pleaded with him to recognize the damage the sex marathons were doing to her, writing: 'I am not an animal.' Jane's testimony was expected to fill the bulk of the trial's fifth week, as prosecutors move closer to finishing the presentation of their evidence before the defense gets its turn. As in her previous two days on the stand last week, Jane became emotional and cried briefly on Monday, but was mostly composed as she discussed her experiences with a man she said she loved. She acknowledged that she had reviewed some of the sex sessions with prosecutors prior to beginning testimony last Thursday. Comey asked her what she saw on them. 'I saw me,' she responded, before adding: 'following a pattern.' She added that with the 'majority of these tapes it was like the same show over and over again.' Jane said that after she expressed her frustrations and desire to only have sexual relations with Combs, the verbal fights between them would sometimes be resolved when he would say all the things she wanted to hear and promise to spend time with her without a 'hotel night.' Then, she said, when she saw Cassie's lawsuit, 'I almost fainted.'
Sky News
6 days ago
- Sky News
Diddy watched me throw up after sex with two male escorts, says alleged victim - trial as it happened
22:31:00 What you need to know after day 18 of Diddy's trial - scroll down to catch up An anonymous former girlfriend and alleged victim of Sean "Diddy" Combs continued her evidence against the rapper on the 18th day of his sex-trafficking trial. If you're just checking in, here's a round-up of all the key updates: Jane began her evidence by telling jurors that Combs would become "incensed" if she asked for the "entertainer" to wear a condom, adding the rapper said he "didn't want to see a rubber while he was watching"; As she began to recall "hotel nights" she became emotional in court, saying she was given "multiple doses" of ecstasy to keep her awake with the longest session lasting around three days; She explained that she felt she had to take the drugs "because when I wouldn't it would just feel too real"; Recalling a sobriety party in Beverly Hills, she said she went to the bathroom after having sex with two men and threw up, but Combs told her "let's go, third guy is here"; Jane said Diddy would call an assistant or security when he ran out of drugs, and told the court she also picked up a "white envelope" of drugs and "put it in my luggage" for Combs; Explaining how "entertainers" were chosen, Jane said Combs chose who took part in the hotel nights at first, before she then started to pick them from late 2021 because she "didn't like to be surprised by a stranger"; But she recalled one occasion when she was "repulsed" by an entertainer who she described as being "really sweaty" and "smelled"; Jane said Combs filmed hotel nights "several times" and even directed what he wanted her to do - from putting baby oil on the man to touching herself; The rapper also asked her to get nipple piercings because "that's what he wanted from his girl" and paid for her veneers as "he didn't like my teeth"; In a voice note played out to jurors, Combs told Jane "I can do whatever the f*** I want" after she said she needed a "breather and a break" from him; Jane will return to the stand to continue her evidence on Monday. 21:59:59 Court finishes for the day It's just reaching 5pm in New York, and that's all we're going to hear from Jane today. She will return on Monday to continue giving evidence. We'll be back with a recap of today's hearing soon - in the meantime scroll through our posts to catch up on what was said in court. 21:57:58 'At any moment he could cut me off', Jane says after Diddy voice note left her 'cold' Jurors are played an audio message from Sean "Diddy" Combs to Jane after an argument between the pair in August 2023. "I'm not going to be playing these games with you at all, nah, you are going to have a rude awakening, you will have silence," he said. "You can be mad and have a spat, that's all it is, you got me on my job, it will never work like that over here, you need to get on your job... I am trying to be clear, I am going to disappear on you." When asked about what she thought Diddy meant by saying he was going to disappear on her, Jane says she was "pretty alarmed by that message". "I was just really cold and its true that at any moment he could just do that if he wanted to... cut me off." Prosecutor Maurene Comey asks Jane what Diddy meant by telling her "you need to get on your job". "Expectations of me," she replied. "Taking care of him, being good to him, making sure he's happy. That included these nights." 21:34:20 Jane tells jurors Combs 'didn't like my teeth' and wanted her to get veneers Jane tells jurors that she got veneers after the Turks and Caicos trip because Combs "didn't like my teeth". "After the Turks trip he paid for my teeth," she says. "I got veneers because Combs didn't like my teeth... he wanted me to get new veneers. He gave me the appointment." She says Combs was also paying for her rent, and still is. In March 2023, she said that she and Combs made an agreement that he would pay her a monthly allowance. "I said 15,000 and he said 10,000," Jane says. "I started looking for new places and moved into a new home and used that budget... I had been giving him all my love and this was him giving me something." But she says the allowance was not enough to furnish her new home after moving in April 2023. "I opened three credit cards and went into debt," she adds. 21:23:19 Jane says Diddy made her apologise to entertainer after storming out of hotel on 'birthday make-up trip' After Jane fought with Combs following her birthday in 2023 that ended in a hotel night, the rapper continued to call and text her. Jane tells jurors she scheduled a trip to Paris for Fashion Week, and it was the first time she had gone on a solo trip in over two years. But a few hours before her flight, Jane says Combs repeatedly texted her and called her phone "like 30 times in a row". After she got back from Paris, she began talking to Combs again, adding "he was adamant we should see each other, and I missed him as well". Jane says Combs told her to visit Miami so they could arrange a "birthday make-up trip" and testifies that they planned the trip to Turks and Caicos. But on the second day of that trip, Paul, an entertainer, arrived at the hotel. "I remember it was really painful and me and Paul tried to have sex but I really couldn't... I was very sore at this point," she tells jurors. She says Combs got "very upset" so she threw a bracelet he had given her against the wall and stormed out of the villa. Jane adds that Combs told her to apologise to Paul. 21:07:30 In pictures: Diddy's alleged victim weeps in court - as mogul looks on during her testimony Courtroom sketches from today's proceedings show Jane, an alleged victim of Combs, weeping on the stand - and of the producer-turned rapper watching her give testimony. 20:52:49 Jane wrote 'you're a pathological liar' about Combs in note Jurors are shown a note Jane wrote to herself on 12 February in 2023. She explains the note contains what she wanted to tell Combs. "If you don't want me, that's fine I just accept the fact that you are a pathological liar," she wrote in the note. Jane adds that she wrote the note so she could "think out what I was feeling", adding that notes were copied into texts. In a text to Combs, she told him "anything outside of the hotel I am a joke to you... romance is spending time with love and happiness, not someone you call on Friday to get high". 20:38:35 Jane returns to stand Jane is coming back to the stand and jurors are returning to the courtroom. Things will be getting back under way following the afternoon break shortly. 20:10:58 Afternoon break There's another pause in proceedings for the afternoon break. We expect jurors to return to the courtroom in around 15 minutes. 19:50:54 'I can do whatever the f*** I want', Combs told Jane in voice note after she told him 'this doesn't make me feel good at all' Jurors are shown a text from Jane, who told Diddy she "needed a breather and a break" from him. She said "this doesn't make me feel good at all, your true intentions in front of me are in plain sight... don't say s*** to me, you don't deserve me". In a voice note, Combs responded by saying "this is the last time you're going to be cursing and disrespecting me". "Be sad, go crazy, do whatever the f*** you want to do... I can do whatever the f*** I want," he said. In a note written to herself in 2022, Jane said "you hurt my feelings every time, you dismiss me, belittle me, you always ask of me, and when I ask of you I am made to feel weird about it".
