A Washington, D.C. man has filed a lawsuit after he was denied a Powerball jackpot due to an error on the DC Lottery website.
John Cheeks got quite a surprise when he checked the winning numbers for the January 7, 2023 drawing online: he had won the $340 million jackpot.
“I was a little excited, but I didn't scream […] I just called a friend. I took a photo as he recommended and that was it. I went to sleep,” he told News 4 Washington.
However, a few days after the drawing, the winning numbers on the DC Lottery website changed. When he went to a store to void his winnings, Mr. Cheeks saw that his ticket was declared non-winning.
The man then contacted a lawyer and filed a lawsuit to recover the money he believed he had won.
For its part, the DC Lottery's defense is that it was a contractor, Taoti Enterprises, that accidentally released the wrong numbers.
“Even if a mistake has been made, the question is: What to do about it? There is a precedent for this, a similar case that occurred in Iowa where a contractor admitted a mistake and where [les gains ont été payés]», emphasized Ms. Richard Evans.
The parties involved in the lawsuit filed last November declined to comment because it is an ongoing legal matter.