Court: Police can collect $1M lottery prize

Jul 13, 2012, 10:45 am (34 comments)

Oregon Lottery

MEDFORD, Oregon — The police in Medford, Oregon, can collect much of a $1 million prize from the Oregon Lottery that came from a scratch ticket bought with a dead woman's credit card, Oregon's appeals court has ruled.

Oregon allows police to keep money seized in criminal activity. The winnings were awarded to the police when Christina Elizabeth Goodenow, 45, pleaded no contest to using the card that belonged to her boyfriend's mother said.

For starters, Chief Tim George said, the windfall will be used to expand the police property and evidence room.

Under state forfeiture laws, 10 percent of the money goes to the state.

And, when Goodenow was arrested, she had only about $11,000 left from the first of 20 annual payments, police said.

Before she was arrested in 2005, Goodenow used the card illegally to make about $12,000 in purchases, including a Lottery ticket from a Central Point store.

When she won the prize, payable over 20 years, she asked the lottery to keep quiet about it, saying she was a domestic violence victim.

Police said they caught wind of the winnings a few weeks later because Goodenow continued to use the card.

Although she pleaded no contest to theft, forgery and cheating, she filed an appeal in 2007 in an effort to keep the money.

Her lawyer, Michelle R. Burrows, argued that state law bars excessive fines, and Goodenow's crimes, although felonies, were not serious enough to merit taking away the $1 million.

But the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the forfeiture Wednesday, saying it took only money that Goodenow had collected through illegal means.

It "deprives defendant of a net gain from her crimes but does not inflict a net loss," the court said.

Oregon Lottery officials previously have said they have no interest in trying to recoup the money.

AP

Comments

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

If a lump sum payment was ever needed..it was needed for this one!Green laugh

mcginnin56

Had she not continued to use the stolen credit card after she won the cool million, she'd have been sitting pretty.

 

Greed is what gets them in the end. It distorts any good judgement. Stupid is as stupid does.  Jack-in-the-Box

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Jul 13, 2012

If a lump sum payment was ever needed..it was needed for this one!Green laugh

The police would have taken the lump sum also. Six of one, half dozen of another.

time*treat's avatartime*treat

If they were going to take the money, it should have gone back toward prizes for legit players.

Giving it to the cops is only going to aggravate a very unpleasant trend in them looking for excuses to take/keep property. Disapprove

VenomV12

That is BS, this is outright theft on the part of the police. The money belongs to the estate of the boyfriend's mother whose funds were used to purchase the ticket. I don't see why the police should be entitled to a dime of the money past the normal fines. Even though it was purchased with stolen funds, I think a 50/50 split with this woman and the estate would be fair. 

This is what happens when you have a broke government, they find all sorts of ways to steal the property of the people. I have been seeing it more and more, especially with the use of property seizures from non-payment of as little as 2 years of property taxes. In my town the crooked Sheriff seized a new Mustang from a 65 year old cancer patient as well as cash who was growing medicianl marijuana in his basement and never sold anything to anyone. He was never charged with any crime but the car and some money were able to be taken even though his wife was a nurse and he was a retired autoworker, and the words emblazoned on the side of his car "Taken from a drug dealer". 

 

There are a bunch of people out there worried about guns being taken away, this is the stuff you should really worry about. The police and the state governments are becoming more and more corrupt everyday and the corrupt judges are changing the laws to give them expanded powers. This is the kind of stuff that is going to cause a revolution in this country.

maximumfun's avatarmaximumfun

I'm glad the criminal did not get to keep the desserts of her felonious activities.

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Screw the Police and the Government ............ it should ALL go to the estate of the deceased!

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Jul 13, 2012

The police would have taken the lump sum also. Six of one, half dozen of another.

If she would have had the lump sum,. she could have burned through it.  The lottery was not interested in recouping the money.  There would have been very little left for the police.

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

Quote: Originally posted by dpoly1 on Jul 13, 2012

Screw the Police and the Government ............ it should ALL go to the estate of the deceased!

If she would have stolen the card while the woman was still alive, then it would go to her estate.

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

Quote: Originally posted by maximumfun on Jul 13, 2012

I'm glad the criminal did not get to keep the desserts of her felonious activities.

Me too.

VenomV12

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Jul 13, 2012

If she would have stolen the card while the woman was still alive, then it would go to her estate.

First of all there is no evidence that would have happened. Who is to say the police would still have not tried to keep the money and been awarded it regardless?

Secondly if the woman was still alive there would be no estate you know due to the fact that she was aliveWink

 

A half decent attorney should argue that even though the money was stolen, past returning the initial amount plus interest, the woman should not be entitled to anything more than that due to the fact that she would not bought the ticket with the money. As I said before a 50/50 settlement even would be equitable. 

If I were the credit card company I would sue the police department and the woman who bought the winning ticket for the proceeds. Assuming when the boyfriend's mother died and her estate was not settled and her credit card bill not paid off, which seems unlikely as the purchases were made after her death, then the money used to buy the ticket was in fact not the deceased's but the credit card company's and therefore the prize money actually theirs.

You are welcome whatever credit card company. Feel free to send me my 10% commission when you get the money.Big Smile

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Why do stupid people always win. It's becoming a epidemic.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

I'm with the majority here. I dont know why the police get to keep this money. It belongs to the dead womans family and the thieving woman belongs in jail.

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

Correct me if I'm wrong,but isn't Oregon one of our most liberal states?Nuff said.

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