News writer
A California resident has accused the California Lottery of not paying out on a $44 million Powerball jackpot win nine weeks after making his claim.
The initial big Powerball win
Jerry, a California man, claims he walked into his neighborhood Ralph's and bought a Powerball ticket on August 19, 2024. The lucky man used some of his favorite numbers when purchasing his ticket and those favorite numbers paid off.
During that evening's drawing, Jerry's numbers all came in, including the Powerball number, to win the $44 million jackpot. The winning numbers for that drawing were 1, 2, 15, 23, and 28, and the Powerball number was 10.
The Orange County man told abc7 Los Angeles:
It was exciting in a really subtle way because you don't anticipate ever hitting all six. Six numbers on the Powerball is... the odds are you'll die before... you'll walk out and get hit by lightning before you win that one.
An immediate claim for his winnings
While the win was exciting, Jerry wasted no time in trying to get his money. He states he immediately put in a claim to the jackpot with the California Lottery.
Despite that quick claim, he said it's now nine weeks later, and he's still waiting for his payout — and hasn't received any part of his winnings yet!
Jerry isn't new to the lottery, as he said he is often buying tickets for Powerball, Fantasy 5, SuperLotto, and Mega Millions. However, he wasn't familiar with this claims process.
'Really horrible for a winner'
Now that Jerry has experience with the claims process for the California Lottery, he is slamming the process, especially for big jackpot amounts like the $44 million he won.
Jerry told the media outlet:
The process is really horrible for a winner of a big... any big lotto winnings. They won't tell you, 'By this date, you'll get the funds.' They won't tell you that. They leave it open-ended, so you're sitting, waiting daily.
Not going to lie, the not having any kind of details or dates would make us lose our minds too!
Nothing to see here
While Jerry thinks the process is ridiculous, it seems like this is part of the normal process for lottery winners in California.
An official with the California State Lottery, Carolyn Becker, said the quickest a winner would be paid from a large jackpot, like this $44 million jackpot win, would be about four weeks. However, she said that doesn't happen often.
While the quickest timeframe would be four weeks, it usually takes the office at least six to eight weeks from the time the winner submits their claim to get paid out, if not longer, Becker said.
Why the slow process? While the California State Lottery didn't specifically comment on Jerry's claim, they did say any person who claims to have a winning ticket is required to undergo a lengthy vetting process. This process includes an investigation by a local law enforcement team and cross-checking to ensure the potential winner doesn't owe the state any tax or child support money.
The process can be slow and tedious, but Powerball winner Edwin Castro was probably glad it took place after he was sued by someone claiming he stole the winning ticket.
10,000 claims per month
In addition to the vetting process, the California Lottery is also dealing with over 10,000 claims per month, Becker said. Because of that, she said the organization wants “to manage the expectations of our winners.”
Despite it being nine weeks since he won the $44 million jackpot, Jerry is still hoping his payout will be deposited into his bank account sooner rather than later. He is ready to start enjoying his winnings, which he described as life-changing!
Enjoy playing the California Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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