After a woman in Texas won the $883.5 million lotto jackpot last month, she has since revealed they are withholding her winnings. State lottery officials have refused to give her the prize money from the February 17 jackpot due to a strange technicality.
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Woman Unable To Receive $83.5 Million Lotto Money After Technicality
According to KHOU, the woman's winning ticket is under investigation due to the use of third-party couriers. The winner, who asked to remain anonymous, explained her situation in an interview with Austin-American Statesman.
"I'm very disappointed," she told the outlet. "I think that this is just a political game that they want to play." The woman also explained how she only spent $20. "I didn't spend $26 million to run every single possible combination of numbers," she continued.
She also spoke to KXAN about using an app called Jackpocket to purchase a lottery ticket. "I'm being treated as the bad guy," she said. Jackpocket counts as a courier, which is an application that purchases lottery tickets for buyers, charging them a service fee.
This has been a huge issue in Texas as of late. Soon after she won the lottery, the Texas Senate voted for a bill to criminalize couriers like Jackpocket. That same day, Governor Greb Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate her lottery win. Not only that, but he requested an investigation for a jackpot win back in 2023.
Randy Howry, the woman's attorney, is standing behind her claiming she deserves her winnings. "We played by all the rules, and we're still playing by all the rules and we expect that my client should be paid," he said.
Just one day after the drawing, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick shared a
