A woman from Texas had won the $83.5 million jackpot back in February. After suing the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) when they refused to give her the winnings, she won the lawsuit. According to PEOPLE, the TLC came to a “settlement of the litigation over the prize payment with the Feb. 17, 2025, Lotto Texas jackpot claimant.”
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Woman Wins Lawsuit Against Texas Lottery, Winning Nearly $46 Million
Kristen Moriarty is the big winner who chose to receive a one-time payment of $45,889,188.92 before taxes. The issue began back in March when Moriarty was denied her winnings, as KXAN reported.
Moriarty used the app called Jackpocket when she got the jackpot. This app allows users to purchase lottery tickets through their cellphones. She bought $20 worth of Texas Lotto tickets for the February 17 drawing and won.
Despite that, Texas lawmakers were going after lottery courier services. They felt these services were illegal, so the Texas Senate passed a bill to ban them.
Although Moriarty had won the lottery before these strict bills passed, Governor Greg Abbott ordered Texas Rangers to investigate her win alongside a $95 million jackpot win in 2023.
Randy Howry, Moriarty’s attorney, claimed his client was rightfully owed her winnings. “We played by all the rules, and we’re still playing by all the rules and we expect that my client should be paid,” said Howry.
“If you allow a person to play by your rules and they win and you refuse to pay ’em, then why would anyone play the Texas lottery going forward?”
A Lengthy Legal Battle
Then, in May, Howry revealed the lawsuit against Sergio Rey, the acting deputy executive director of the TLC. In this complaint, they claimed that Moriarty showed her winning ticket to the TLC on March 18.
It also said “the Commission determined that [she] was the lawful bearer of the winning ticket…and determined that [she] was therefore the ‘prize winner.'” Despite this, the TLC refused to grant Moriarty the prize money.
“We all know the Commission is not allowed to change the rules after the drawing,” read the complaint. “But the Commission has apparently tried to do so and relied, at least in part, on this ex post facto announcement to continue to refuse to pay Plaintiff her lottery winnings simply because she utilized a lottery ticket courier service to buy the winning ticket.”
Finally, after six months, Moriarty got justice. “With considerable loss financially and emotionally, the lawsuit and the civil justice system forced the Lottery Commission to do the right thing – pay the Winner,” said Howry’s law firm, Breen & Herman, LLP.