Texas woman who won $83.5M lottery jackpot hasn't been paid, sues Texas Lottery Commission
Texas Lottery winner sues for payout
A woman still has not been paid after her controversial $83.5 million Lotto Texas jackpot win. She is suing the Texas Lottery Commission in an attempt to receive her winnings.
AUSTIN - A Texas woman who won $83.5 million playing the lottery in February says she still has not received her payout and is suing the deputy executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission.
Texas lottery winner lawsuit
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Austin winning lottery ticket raises questions
A lot of zero's have been tacked onto one person's net worth after winning a $83.5 million Texas Lottery ticket. But it has created a lot of questions about the legitimacy of the lottery system.
Dig deeper:
On Feb. 17, the lottery winner, a woman from Montgomery County who chose to remain anonymous, purchased a Lotto Texas ticket through the app Jackpocket.
Jackpocket is a courier service which purchases tickets on behalf of its app customers and then buys lottery tickets from a retailer.
The ticket was purchased from a store called Winners Corner in North Austin, which was also owned by Jackpocket.
The woman's ticket matched all six numbers, winning the $83,500,000 jackpot.
The win sparked a political firestorm in the state of Texas.
Shortly after, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited the Winners Corner and raised concerns about the fairness of lottery couriers.
The Texas Rangers and the Office of the Attorney General launched investigations into the Texas Lottery.
On Feb. 24, then-Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Ryan Mindell issued a policy statement saying the agency is taking action to stop couriers from operating in Texas.
Mindell later resigned.
In April, the commission voted to officially ban courtiers in the state.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas Lottery Commission bans lottery couriers
In their April 29 meeting, the Texas Lottery Commission voted to ban the use of lottery couriers in the state. This comes after much scrutiny into courier services prompted by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
In the lawsuit, the winner says she took the ticket to the Texas Lottery Commission on March 18, and the commission determined it was a lawful, winning ticket.
Yet, she still has not received her money, according to the lawsuit.
The woman is now suing the Texas Lottery Commission's deputy executive director, Sergio Rey, who she claims has not responded to her written inquiries about the status of the ticket.
The lawsuit seeks the $83.5 million from the jackpot, the woman's legal fees and any other relief.
What they're saying:
"In Texas, a deal is a deal, unless you are the Texas Lottery," reads a portion of the lawsuit. "When you win, the Lottery should pay you - not stall, not waffle, not hem, not haw, not try and change the rules and not try to back out of the deal. Lotteries with integrity pay the winners. Responsible lotteries pay the winners. Anything short of that destroys the integrity of the lottery and shatters the confidence of those who play it. It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to get paid when you win the lottery. But that’s exactly what has happened here."
End of Texas Lottery Commission?
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Bill to end Texas Lottery Commission passed by Senate
The Texas Senate has approved legislation that would shut down the Texas Lottery Commission.
Big picture view:
The controversy over the $83.5 million winning ticket and a $95 million winning ticket sold in Colleyville in April 2023 caused lawmakers to take a closer look at the Texas Lottery Commission.
The Texas Senate has approved legislation that would shut down the commission.
Senate Bill 3070 would end the Texas Lottery Commission and move the oversight of the lottery to the Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The bill still needs to be approved by the Texas House.
The Source: Information in this article comes from a lawsuit filed in Travis County District Court and past FOX 7 coverage.