$100,000 lottery ticket claim goes to court

May 13, 2005, 11:29 am (13 comments)

Indiana Lottery

An administrative law judge is considering the claim by two Indiana men that they are the rightful owners of a $100,000 lottery ticket that was tossed in the trash.

Judge Gregg Henry said he would rule within two months after hearing 6 1/2 hours of testimony Wednesday. Ownership of the ticket has been in dispute as it was put into a trash can at the Chaperral Cafe in Shelbyville, Indiana on Feb. 8 after a clerk told Ron Douglas and Ron Vinson that the $5 ticket was not the $40 winner they were hoping it was.

Customer Karrie Jeremiah said she then retrieved the ticket, planning to enter it into a second-chance drawing before later finding out it was a big winner.

Hoosier Lottery officials on Feb. 10 issued Jeremiah a check for $71,600 — the amount after taxes were withheld.

Henry must decide if the lottery must also pay Vinson and Douglas.

Chaperral Cafe clerk Marsha Chaney testified that she ripped and discarded the tickets after telling the men that the terminal read “invalid prize amount” and all three of them assumed the game tickets were non-winners.

Lottery officials questioned whether the two men ever saw the winning ticket.

“The testimonies of the two men and the clerk are contradictive,” said Esther Schneider, the lottery’s executive director. “The Hoosier Lottery has received no other complaints to date concerning the validation of winning tickets for the Hold ’Em Poker scratch off game.”

Attorneys for Douglas and Vinson argued that the lottery was negligent in training and supervising its retailers and that the game was confusing.

“Hoosier Lottery’s high-handed tactics are offensive,” Lee McNeely, an attorney for the men, said after the hearing. “They should pay the men their money and apologize.”

AP

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JAG331

I think Karrie has a questionable story.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

i'm thinking the same thing....

TNPATL

I third that emotion.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

indiana lottery has already been in one jam with scratch offs,plus the number games are all suspect,they have got the worst lottery bar none.

LosingJeff's avatarLosingJeff

This is what happens when a Lottery goes unaudited for 16 years. The retailer screwed up so the Lottery should pay! They should have plenty of money to pay it seeing how they pay nothing on their daily games. Their Motto should be "Off by one" . Actually they should consider naming a scratch off that name. By the way, I bought 10 of the new poker game scratch offs and won zilch. The odds here are impossible! But our State is in such bad economic shape. Wonder where all the money is?

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

its in the indiana lottery commission bank account...thats where....

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

I bought 2 Beat the House tickets and won $400 on one of them. Cool. I do agree the scratchers in Indiana seem shy on pay-outs but Ohio's seem just as bad.

RJOh's avatarRJOh



I think Karrie has a questionable story.



But she had the ticket, and she didn't steel it.  That was enough to collect the winnings.  The only mistake she made was bragging about finding it in the trash.   

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

she should've kept quiet about it.....

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE



This is what happens when a Lottery goes unaudited for 16 years. The retailer screwed up so the Lottery should pay! They should have plenty of money to pay it seeing how they pay nothing on their daily games. Their Motto should be "Off by one" . Actually they should consider naming a scratch off that name. By the way, I bought 10 of the new poker game scratch offs and won zilch. The odds here are impossible! But our State is in such bad economic shape. Wonder where all the money is?



i'd quit playing in indiana......

dvdiva's avatardvdiva

I always wonder about these people who are unable to check the numbers themselves. All of these problems wouldn't happen if the real ticket holder checked on the internet at home.

JAG331

When does Invalid Prize Amount equal Not a Winner?

Maybe Karrie does deserve the money...I just want to know if she was standing in line at the time, or she came into the store later.

CASH Only

Who knows?

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