Washington DC man who hit $340 million jackpot denied prize after a 'mistake' on the website

A man saw his dream wash away after he was told by lotto officials that his Powerball numbers were erroneously displayed on  DC’s lottery website for three days and did not merit a jackpot, as per The US Sun. John Cheeks, a resident of Washington DC purchased a Powerball ticket on January 6, 2023, and later found out that he had won. "I got a little excited, but I didn’t shout, I didn’t scream. I just politely called a friend. I took a picture as he recommended, and that was it. I went to sleep," he said. 

However, soon his luck turned against him when he went to cash his prize at the office and was denied his win. This is when he put his ticket in a safe deposit box and took the matter to court. Cheeks reportedly submitted a handwritten complaint in the District of Columbia Superior Court in November. He sued the lottery company for breach of contract, gross negligence as well as the infliction of emotional distress among other claims. As per the reports, he is seeking the full $340 million prize as compensation, plus interest and damages from the Multi-State Lottery Association and game contractor Taoti Enterprises.

"Petitioner’s prize claim was denied … because the ticket did not validate as a winner by the OLG’s gaming system as required by OLG regulations," read the documents. Speaking with NCB news affiliate, Cheeks said that the workers in the office asked him to throw out the ticket. "Hey, this ticket is no good. Just throw it in the trash can," he said. "Oh yeah, just throw it away. You’re not going to get paid. There’s a trash can right there," he recalled the worker's words. 

Cheek's attorney Richard Evans said that his client was eventually informed by a lottery contractor that Taoti Enterprises, a DC-based digital advertising agency that manages the DC Lottery’s website made "a mistake" and posted the wrong numbers. "They have said that one of their contractors made a mistake,” Evans told NBC 4. "I haven’t seen the evidence to support that yet," via NY Post. 

Taoti Enterprises later said that the wrong numbers were posted and were removed once the error was noticed by an employee. "These red flags would cause any reasonable person to know that they were not the valid winning numbers," the contractor maintained. At the time of the lawsuit, Taoti Enterprises pointed out a disclaimer on the lottery website that says that the site is not the "final authority" of the drawing suggesting that the numbers that were displayed on the website were not final in any way. 

Later Cheek's lawyer sent an email to NPR saying that the lawsuit raises critical questions about "the integrity and accountability of lottery operations and the safeguards — or lack thereof — against the type of errors that Powerball and the DC Lottery admit occurred in this case." He added that the lawsuit is not only about the numbers displayed on the website but also  "the reliability of institutions that promise life-changing opportunities, while heavily profiting in the process."

This article originally appeared 2 months ago.