Austin (Texas Tribune) – The lottery in Texas will pay nearly $ 46 million to a woman deprived of her profits for several months, amid investigations and disputes that linked her payments.
An agreement was submitted between the Lottery Committee and Christine Morrte on Thursday, according to court records. In a statement, the lottery committee said that the settlement was reached under the guidance of the public prosecutor Ken PakstonThe S and Resident in the Houston area will receive $ 45.8 million before taxes in one bloc currently being treated.
The payment comes more than five months after the Moriarty bought the winning Lotto Texas ticket – worth $ 83.5 million – on February 17 through Jackpocket, which is an online service known as a Lottery guards That sells the lottery tickets online. The agency refused to pay Moraiti to win, cited Two investigations In Texas Rapid Mail operations by the Ministry of Public Safety and the Buckston Office.
Morrtei raised the committee’s prosecution in May for money, and said that she felt a legal battle that had no role in it.
“I am sad, stressed, angry that this has become a political thing,” Morarti said in an interview with him in June with The Texas Tribune. “I have lost confidence in our elected officials. Yes, I really don’t know what to say I can say loudly.”
The companies, which are working by receiving requests from customers and wiping copies of material tickets in a retail store owned by the company to send to Jupiter, recently. criminal By the Legislative Commission in Texas after receiving an audit on whether their operations are legal under the state law.
Doubts on the legitimacy of the pursuit were already high among the legislators in the state due to the winning of the grand prize that won in 2023. In this case, I bought one group, with the help of the Sa’i company, 99 % of the 26 million tickets tickets in one fee to win the grand prize worth 95 million dollars. In addition to criminalizing assistants, the legislature also banned the purchase of more than 100 tickets in one purchase.
After Moretarti won her prize through a courier, legislators, including Lieutenant, ruler Dan Patrick He became more complained of services, which prompted investigations.
The Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a request to comment on the settlement or investigation.
The payments are to be among the last to be dealt with by the lottery committee, which is scheduled to be canceled on September 1. The Licensing and Organization Department in Texas will instead run the state’s charitable lottery operations, although it is currently unclear how similar the parents process is. The settlement also ends one of the latest differences that closed the Agency convicted since January, which led to the investigations, the cancellation of the committee numerous Resignation.
This article originally appeared in Texas Tribune in www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a non -profit and non -party media organization that teaches Texans – and participates with them – on public policy, politics, government issues and at the state level.