A Washington, D.C., man is suing Powerball and the D.C. Lottery after he claims he was denied a jackpot worth $340 million because of a “mistake.”
In the lawsuit, John Cheeks claims that he bought a Powerball ticket on Jan. 6, 2023, when the jackpot was at $340 million. After purchasing the ticket, on which he used his family birth dates as his winning numbers, he said he wasn’t quick to see if he won on Jan. 7.
However, when he did check the following day on the D.C. Lottery’s website, he saw the winning numbers that matched his ticket.
“I just politely called a friend. I took a picture as he recommended, and that was it. I went to sleep,” Cheeks told NBC 4.
For three days, the website showed that Cheeks had become a multimillionaire, but there was one hiccup: they were the wrong numbers.
The DC Lottery had posted the wrong numbers on its website, as they did not match the numbers pulled during the live Powerball broadcast.
When Cheeks went to cash in at a licensed retailer on Jan. 10, he found that none of his numbers matched the live drawing.
In the lawsuit, Cheeks claims that he then went to the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming prize center but was again told he did not win.
“’Hey, this ticket is no good. Just throw it in the trash can,’” Cheeks recalled to the outlet. “And I gave him a stern look. I said, ‘In the trash can?’ ‘Oh yeah, just throw it away. You’re not gonna get paid. There’s a trash can right there.’”
Since the interaction, he has held onto the ticket and is now claiming he is owed the money from the lottery.
Richard Evans, his attorney, shared with NBC 4 that his client was eventually told that the lottery made a “mistake” by posting the wrong numbers.
“They have said that one of their contractors made a mistake,” Evans said. “I haven’t seen the evidence to support that yet.”
Even though he didn’t have the numbers matching the live drawing, Evans says his client is owed something.
“Even if a mistake was made, the question becomes: What do you do about that?” he asked.