A Washington, DC man has filed a lawsuit after being denied a Powerball jackpot following an error on the DC Lottery website.
John Cheeks had quite a surprise when he checked the winning numbers of the January 7, 2023 draw on the web: he had won the jackpot of $340 million.
“I was a little excited, but I didn’t shout (…) I simply called a friend. I took a photo as he recommended and that’s it. I went to sleep,” he told News 4 Washington.
However, a few days after the drawing, the winning numbers had changed on the DC Lottery website. When he went to a store to validate his prize, Mr. Cheeks saw his ticket declared non-winning.
The man then contacted an attorney and filed a lawsuit to receive the money he believes he won.
For its part, the DC Lottery defends itself by saying that it was a contractor, Taoti Enterprises, which published the wrong numbers by mistake.
“Even if a mistake was made, the question becomes: what do you do about it? There is precedent for this, a similar case that occurred in Iowa, where an error was admitted by a contractor and (the winnings were paid),” Mr.me Richard Evans.
The parties involved in the lawsuit filed last November declined to comment since it is an ongoing legal matter.
