A woman in Texas continues the state lottery committee for not having paid a scholarship of $ 83.5 million, more than three months after the figures on her ticket equaled the winning figures in a drawing, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
“Each Texan knows what it should mean with regard to the lottery – if you win, you should be paid,” said the costume. “It should not take legal action to be paid when you win the lottery. But that’s exactly what happened here. ”
The woman bought her ticket via a lottery mail service, companies that allow customers to buy tickets practically, using a mobile application or another online interface.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the costume, bought a ticket for the “Lotto Texas” lottery game via an application called Jackpocket on February 17, and her numbers equaled those of the figures drawn at 10:12 p.m. on the same day, according to the trial.
A week after Doe won his ticket, the Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission, Ryan Mindell, announced a decision to prohibit messaging services like that used, under Texas law. The prohibition entered into force on May 19, according to a spokesperson for the lottery committee. Mindell resigned in April.
“We all know that the Commission is not authorized to modify the rules after the drawing. But the commission apparently tried to do so and relied – at least in part – on this ex -post facto announcement to continue refusing to pay the plaintiff her lottery gains simply because she used a lottery ticket messaging service to buy the winning ticket, “said the pursuit.
A spokesperson told CNN in an email on Saturday that the commission “does not comment on current disputes.”
The trial also alleges that the unpaid Gins of DOE could be used to pay other Lottery winners from Texas, or can be made and redirected to “other responsibilities or commission ends”, potentially reducing the amount due to it.
Women ‘lawyers also asked for a temporary ban order and asked for a temporary injunction to arrest the deputy executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission, Sergio Rey, to distribute funds, which, according to the trial, alleys that DOE has still not received.
“If Mr. Rey is not retained and prohibited to disburse or decrease the prices of the applicant’s jackpot, the applicant will undergo damage which will be unable to be measured by a certain pecuniary standard before being given and a hearing is held at the request of a applicant in temporary injunction,” said a court document.
CNN contacted the Governor’s office of Texas, Greg Abbott, the Jackpocket and Rey to comment.
A lottery mail service acts as a third -party supplier who buys lottery tickets on behalf of customers, coordinates the purchase of physical tickets via brick and mortar stores that services often have and informs buyers if they gain.
Mail services are generally used online or via an application, offering a practical way to play games. Some letters even offer national lottery games like Mega Millions and Powerball.
Couriers of lottery, who had Operating in Texas since 2019, it became a goal in April 2023 after a single entity bought 25 million lottery tickets in less than 72 hours using a messaging service, the CNN WFAA subsidiary reported.
The entity bought “almost all possible numbers of numbers,” said the communication of the governor’s office at the time. The investor doubled his money because the jackpot was so high, and the winner won $ 57.8 million before taxes, WFAA said.
Messaging services operate in 19 states, according to a report published in 2024 by the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.
Only three states – New York, New Jersey and Arkansas – regulate the messaging service industry, according to a report by Texas House 2024. Without these regulations in Texas, letters are not required to obtain a license or an authorization from the Lottery of Texas to operate, depending on the report.
The purchase via a lottery letter has two advantages for the customer, said Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.
“It allows the buyer to bake a boring tickets without having to go to an ordinary lottery retailer and it also allows buyers outside the state to buy tickets at the lottery across the country,” said Matheson in February.
The service can have drawbacks such as costs, legality problems and a lack of limit to the number of tickets purchased, added Matheson. Other legal concerns include sales regulation through state lines when each state controls its own lottery games, sales to minor players, ticket purchase unions and other problems.
