Janice R. Andrews
John Cheeks, a resident of Washington, DC, was told that his purported $340 million jackpot win was an error, so he is suing Powerball and the DC Lottery. When the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) rejected Cheeks’s claim in January 2023, he was distraught because he had thought he had won the lottery.
Court filings state that a technological issue resulted in a set of test Powerball numbers that matched Cheeks’ ticket being mistakenly uploaded on the lottery website for three days, which caused confusion. But the figures on the internet didn’t match the official results of the draw.
Cheeks is suing on a number of grounds, including fraud, carelessness, emotional distress, and breach of contract. Richard Evans, Cheeks’s attorney, contends that if the numbers line up, Cheeks should win the entire jackpot or get damages for the lottery’s purported wrongdoing.
“There are serious concerns about the accountability and integrity of lottery operations raised by this lawsuit,” Evans said, highlighting the necessity of precautions against such mistakes.
If successful, Cheeks intends to use the proceeds to create a trust bank that will assist potential homeowners.
The next hearing in this case is scheduled for February 23. The likelihood of winning the Powerball jackpot is incredibly slim, which emphasizes how desperate Cheeks is in this court dispute.
