The Texas Lottery may still have 99 problems but a woman suing them for her jackpot isn’t one, at least anymore.
Kristen Moriarty sued the Texas Lottery Commission in May after she claimed the group refused to honor her $83.5 million winning ticket. moriarty purchased the ticket using the lottery courier app Jackpocket.
The day after her February win, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick filmed a social media video at Winner’s Corner, the retailer associated with the winning ticket and decried the practice of lottery couriers.
Woman will take $46M lump sum lotto payday
The state launched an investigation and withheld her winnings. In the meantime, the Texas Lottery also updated its regulations to officially prohibit couriers from partnering with retailers in the state.
Moriarty filed suit in May. On July 30, her lawyers submitted a letter to the Travis County District Court between themselves and Assistant Attorney General Joe Nwaokoro with terms of the settlement.
In exchange for the lump sum value of her prize, which amounts to not quite $46 million, Moriarty will dismiss her suit against the organization with prejudice.
Moriarty won’t even see all $46 million of those dollars though, as $11 million of it will go directly to the Internal Revenue Service to cover the taxes on her win.
Moriarty’s win got caught up in a rush of scandal-related Texas Lottery news that began with an investigation into a bulk ticket purchasing scheme in 2023 where a group obtained extra lottery retail machines to buy and print every combination of numbers to guarantee a $93 million jackpot.
While that scheme involved a group of people, allegedly including former Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Gary Grief, Moriarty had simply bought a few tickets via a courier on her own.
Lotto.com suit against TX Lottery also resolved
The Texas Lottery Commission was also handling a lawsuit from courier Lotto.com. The company sued the group in April over its handling of lottery couriers and the abrupt change in regulations. In the suit, CEO Tom Metzger provided ample communication indicating the lottery was fully aware of how couriers like Lotto.com and Jackpot.com operated and were aware they were coming into the state. In communication, the lottery said since these couriers were not retailers, they were not something the lottery could even regulate if it wanted to do so.
According to the Travis County District Court docket, that suit was dismissed by the plaintiff at the end of May, just days after the state legislature voted to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission and create a new oversight body for lottery gaming.
The Texas Lottery Commission will officially sunset on Sept. 1, at which point the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation will take over day-to-day operations.
