LOTTERY officials have finally agreed to pay an $83.5 million dollar prize after withholding it for months.
Kristen Moriarty was denied her winnings for over five months because of investigations into the now-banned company who sold her the ticket.
She will now receive nearly $46 million after suing the commission in May, when she described feeling “sad, stressed and angry” over not receiving her funds.
It remains unclear where the other half of her jackpot will go.
“I’ve lost faith in our elected officials. And yeah, I really don’t know what else to say that I can say out loud,” she told The Texas Tribune.
Kristen bought her ticket through Jackpot, an online service known as a lottery courier.
These third-party companies are allowed by some states to purchase tickets on behalf of their customers.
But in Texas, couriers were recently criminalised after growing scrutiny over the legality of their practices.
Lawmakers also banned buying more than 100 tickets in a single purchase.
This comes after an incident in 2023 which saw a group bag the $95 million jackpot after buying almost all of the available tickets using a lotto courier site.
Kristen’s payout will be among the last to be handled by the commission, which is due to be abolished next month.
LOTTO FRAUD
Earlier this year, a gas station worker was accused of printing hundreds of lotto tickets without paying – before cashing them in.
Hope Johnson’s alleged plot saw her take home almost $3,000 in prize money.
She worked at a BP garage in Wisconsin and would print off the slips when she was alone, according to court documents seen by NBC affiliate WEAU.
She printed around 800 lotto tickets, which would’ve cost more than $8,800.
But, Johnson apparently didn’t pay for the tickets.
Once the tickets were printed, she would check the numbers before putting the winning slips aside.
Johnson then went to another store to cash the slips in, according to court documents.
She took home more than $2,800 after cashing in the winning tickets, according to the Ventura County Star.
But, the gas station experienced a $9,000 loss in August 2024 and Johnson’s apparent scheme seemed to unravel.
Security footage caught Johnson printing off the tickets and not paying for them.
Johnson pleaded guilty to a charge of forging a lottery ticket.
She initially faced six charges, but five of which were dismissed because she pleaded guilty.
Johnson could have been sentenced to up to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Alternatively, she could’ve been hit with a $10,000 fine.
She received a two-year probation sentence and 10 days in jail.
