A Washington, D.C., man has sued Powerball for $340million after he claimed he was unfairly denied prize money despite having the winning numbers that were displayed on the website.
John Cheeks purchased a Powerball ticket on January 6, 2023, and chose his numbers based on his family members’ birthdays.
He missed watching the live drawing the following day, but discovered on January 8 that his numbers matched what he found on the D.C. lottery website and saw the whopping $320million prize.
‘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,’ Cheeks told News4.
He soon realized the numbers on the website and ticket did not match the numbers that were drawn on TV, even though his numbers were displayed online for three days, the lawsuit claimed.
According to the filing, the lottery contractor, Taoti Enterprises, made a ‘mistake’ and posted the wrong winning numbers on the website.
John Cheeks has filed a lawsuit against Powerball after he thought he won a $320million jackpot in January 2023
Cheeks said he checked his numbers on the D.C. Lottery website on January 8 (pictured), when he discovered that his numbers matched for the $320million prize
Cheeks’ lawsuit has requested that Powerball pay him the winnings from the ticket he thought he held, plus an additional $72,000 per day of interest payments ‘due for failure to pay.’
The amount equals roughly $340million.
Cheeks said he didn’t rush to claim his prize as he was busy with his job. He is working on creating a home trust bank that would provide individuals with loans who don’t qualify for traditional mortgages.
‘The crisis of the homeownership situation here in the District, Virginia and Maryland,’ he said.
‘Tent cities over at the State Department. Tent cities at Union Station.’
According to the legal documents, Cheeks discovered his fortune was threatened after he went to a licensed lottery retailer and his prize was denied.
He then moved on to the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming prize center, where he received another denial and a request from a claims officer.
Cheeks said the officer told him his ticket was not valid and that he should ‘just throw it in the trash can.’
‘And I gave him a stern look. I said, “In the trash can?”‘ He then recalled the officer confirmed that he should throw the ticket away and said: ‘You’re not gonna get paid.’
Cheeks said he chose his numbers based off of family members’ birthdays. The physical lottery ticket that he bought on January 6 is seen along with a denial when he checked his numbers
He soon realized the numbers on the website and ticket did not match the numbers that were drawn on TV, even though his numbers were displayed online for three days
Cheeks was told that he should throw the ticket out, but instead, he kept it and hired his lawyer, Richard Evans (pictured)
Against the officer’s orders, Cheeks kept the ticket and stored it in a safe deposit box before he reached out to a lawyer for help.
‘They have said that one of their contractors made a mistake. I haven’t seen the evidence to support that yet,’ Cheek’s lawyer, Richard Evans, told News4.
‘Even if a mistake was made, the question becomes: “What do you do about that?”‘ he said, before adding a similar case occurred in Iowa, and that the contractor paid the winnings out to the plaintiff.
DailyMail.com contacted Powerball and Taoti Enterprises but did not hear back.
Taoti Enterprises previously replied to News4 request for comment and said that a response would be coming. The other organizations told the outlet that they cannot comment on ongoing lawsuits.
The jackpot that Cheeks thought was his eventually grew to $754.6million and a ticketholder won the prize on February 6.
According to U.S. News, the odds of winning the Powerball is about one in 292.2million, and the chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is about one in 302.6million.
