WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Washington, D.C. man who thought he had won a $340 million Powerball jackpot is suing the lottery and other companies related to the Powerball game after the district's website displayed the wrong winning numbers, which happened to match the numbers on his ticket.
John Cheeks purchased a Powerball lottery ticket at the center of the dispute on Jan. 6, 2023. Although Cheeks did not see the Powerball drawing the following day, he saw his numbers posted on the DC lottery's website two days later.
The digits on his ticket were a combination of family birthdays and other numbers of personal significance. Speaking to NBC Washington, Cheeks said, "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."
But then things for Cheeks took a turn for the worse when he went to the DC Lottery's office to redeem his ticket. Court documents allege that administrators denied Cheeks' jackpot claim, saying in a letter to him, "Petitioner's prize claim was denied... because the ticket did not validate as a winner by the OLG's gaming system as required by OLG regulations."
Cheeks also said that he received an odd request from a claims staffer who allegedly told him, "Hey, this ticket is no good. Just throw it in the trash can."
Cheeks recalled, "I gave him a stern look. I said, 'In the trash can?'
'Oh yeah, just throw it away. You're not going to get paid. There's a trash can right there.'"
Cheeks did not discard his ticket. Instead, he put it in a safe deposit box, reached out to an attorney and sued Powerball. Other defendants named in Cheeks's lawsuit include the Multi-State Lottery Association and game contractor Taoti Enterprises.
In a court declaration, Taoti project manager Brittany Bailey said that on Jan. 6, 2023, the company's quality assurance team was conducting testing of a task involving a changing of time zones for the Powerball website from Coordinated Universal Time to Eastern Standard Time.
At around noon that day, the Taoti quality assurance team accidentally posted test Powerball numbers on the game's live website rather than a development environment which mimicked the site but was not viewable to the public, according to Bailey.
Bailey added that the test numbers were not the numbers drawn for the Jan. 7, 2023 Powerball drawing. They also could not have been the numbers drawn because the incorrect ones were posted on Jan. 6, a day prior to the drawing.
On Jan. 8, the incorrect lottery numbers were listed next to the actual winning numbers on the DC Lottery website. Upon realizing the error a day later, the Taoti development team took down the numbers, Bailey said.
Despite Taoti's claims, Cheeks's attorney Richard Evans told NBC Washington, "They have said that one of their contractors made a mistake.... I haven't seen the evidence to support that yet."
He went on to add, "Even if a mistake was made, the question becomes: What do you do about that?"
Evans argued that there is precedent for such a situation. Last November, the Iowa Lottery posted the wrong Powerball numbers, citing a "human reporting error". However, the Iowa Lottery said that the temporary winners — people who had the numbers at issue — could keep their prizes, which ranged from $4 to $200.
"A mistake was admitted to by a contractor and they paid the winnings out," Evans said.
The Powerball jackpot currently stands at $206 million for the next drawing on Sat., Feb. 3 at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.
Powerball is played in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega website provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
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Someone is to be hold accountable.
I don't care who posted the wrong number I woke up a to be a Millionaire " I don't care what they said' pay me.
Says it right on the website of all the lotteries... This should be correct but, if it isn't... The lottery official records are controlling. Or something of that nature...
No cause of action there buddy. Buh bye. A decent attorney would have told you that fact. His attorney appears to be a solo practitioner with zero reviews.
Because we made an error, here is $340 bucks. Thanks for playing.
Two things I had hoped for: 1) That Todd & Kate would run this article and #2) That Artist 77 would comment since it is in your backyard.
This was on YouTube and I commented on it. You talk about some hateful comments directed @ me. One even said I wasn't educated. Blasted that one out and said eff your attitude that my SO worked in Criminal Justice for 40 years and my measly eight months as a Grand Juror and know what I'm talking about.
Just for curiosity went to DC lotto website, and like all the many websites I may encounter, there is the disclaimer lower left corner in plain English.
Artist 77: Could the DC lottery sue him for defamation?
The time stamp on the purchased ticket shows January 6 8:47 PM. He picked his own numbers.
The lottery people say the "test" numbers were posted on the website January 6, likely during business hours.
It looks to me Mr. Cheeks bought the ticket after the incorrect numbers were posted.
They may offer him a few hundred dollars if anything at all but not as a settlement. Assuming he did not purchase his numbers after they were posted since that shows dishonesty.
There is no cause for defamation at this point, even if he is ranting online about it (assuming he does not have millions of followers).
If he continues after the case is dismissed and claims the DC lottery is crooked , scammers, etc. and that info is disseminated widely, at best he would be sent a cease and desist letter a time or two. It would be more injurious to the DC lottery to sue him for defamation.
Defamation is a high standard to meet. Multiple tests to meet. Now if he starts making wild untrue claims like they all are Satan worshipers and are killing babies, then that is different.
* Years ago, a woman supposedly won " millions" on a penny slot machine & ended up getting a steak from the management: Same thing here!
Pretty ballsy, and he knows well and good he has no case, just trying to get his name in the papers. Why didn't he watch the video of the official drawing? They're all posted on YT, I believe. Why didn't he double check the numbers on a few other states' lottery websites and the Powerball website itself? All of that would have set him straight.
What about the Players that discarded Winning Tickets after seeing the Incorrect Numbers on the DC Website?
Although I don't agree with paying him the full $350 mil, but since it was there mistake they should at least pay him .1%. ( $350.000.).
The plot thickens, I think there needs to be a complete investigation.
1. Does the alleged winner know the techies?
2. Birthday numbers??? only see a couple.
3. Does he have other tickets with the exact numbers?
Sumptin fishy
So what sort of loss did he suffer based on inaccurate info being temporarily posted to a website??? Did he miss a deadline? Nooo. You cannot be serious.
I hope he wins, as I would if it was any of you.
The lottery can afford to pay and everybody's happy!
Since the lottery is already scamming us with sucker bets, why not make them pay when they post the wrong numbers?
Sometimes the scammer gets scammed and turnabout is fair play.
Just because a disclaimer is posted doesn't mean it's absolute. If as he says they left the wrong numbers up for three days, there is a degree of pain thinking you've won something more then a plastic leg in a fish net stocking. They owe him something, exactly what, is for a jury to decide.
BobP
He also fails the reasonable person test. I think others are correct here. He saw the early posted numbers with the missing pb number and went out and bought 26 tickets with each pb number. Just a scammer. Hopefully there is video of this as well.
See USA Today info below.
Brittany Bailey, the project manager at Taoti, said in court documents that Cheeks' "attempted scheme" is a way to capitalize on an "obvious error" on the D.C. Lottery website. Rather than posting random numbers on a "test website" by Taoti, as intended, they were mistakenly posted Jan. 6 on the D.C. Lottery Website, she said.
"First, any ordinary person knows that winning lottery numbers are not posted or advertised in advance; they cannot be because they have not been drawn yet," Bailey said in the court filings. "Second, the list of numbers posted did not include a Powerball number, but simply a blank red ball. These red flags would cause any reasonable person to know that they were not the valid winning numbers for the following day."
dailymail says the guy is trying to start up his own bank too
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13100377/washington-dc-powerball-drawing-lottery-lawsuit.html
all i can say is this guy got more balls than powerball.
Had he actually won, he would have bought a yacht and been hanging out with 20 year old bikini models.
He is a very practiced scammer.
I know @ casinos you can ban yourself from entering/playing @ a casino and can be subject to arrest if caught. Had seen a special on casinos banning certain customers, particularly Blackjack cheaters.
My question is: Can the DC lottery ban this fool from playing again? Never heard of that, but there's a first time for every thing.
Had he worked for the lottery and engaged in criminal conduct and convicted, they could ban him from taking a job in any lottery related field and bar him from lottery playing probably.
The DC lottery will simply keep Mr. Cheeks on an internal private caution list when he cashes in any ticket.
I always check my PB and MM on the official websites. And if I ever won the jackpot I'd be checking every single website to make sure. It doesn't ring true that he just saw the numbers posted on the DC website only and declared victory.
I find it odd that state lottery's are subcontracting there work. It seems to me there doing this to not be held liable if things happen or if cheating is going on. I always looked at lottery as a game. But now I look at is a buisness and there's alot of money to be made from lotterys. I also find it odd there posting the wrong numbers or practice numbers as people are saying in the comments. I mean how hard is it. I'm sure this guy will not be payed. But I did see in his interview he went to lottery head quarters and they told him it's not a winning ticket and the lottery official kept telling him to throw it away. And was pointing at the trash can in there building,.
Lottery Liability still exists with contractors and subcontractors. These people are authorized agents and reps of the lottery.
And the bonus pb # was supposedly blank so how could he think he won. Lol
What a coincidence!
Experts say the lottery is a "sucker's bet".
You can't have a "sucker" without a "scammer".
That is the reality.
Can anyone give an example of a sucker without a scammer?
I didn't think so.
Those who work in law don't want to admit that.
As a friend of mine once said, "The only difference between a rich crook and a poor crook is that the rich crook steals legally and the poor crook steals illegally."
Honest people with integrity recognize that.
Some of the most RACIST laws were the Fugitive Slave Act, the Indian Removal Act, and the Chinese Exclusion Act, and many RACISTS work in law to this day.
Welp let's play 350 Night Drawing DC
good idea. cheeks can tack racism on his frivolous lawsuit. i bet people at the lottery call him butt cheeks behind his back too, now he can toss in emotional distress.
LP has the best lunchtime reading.
Mr. Butt Cheeks goes to Washington. OR
MR. Dirty Deeds goes to Washington.
Oh I get it now. That makes it so much worse. I wonder if there is store footage of him buying that 5-number combo with every single powerball.
Who has been racist toward Mr. Cheeks? Are you from California?
Mr. Cheeks spent many months on the internal admin process in the DC lottery before filing. This tells me me they likely told him to go away.
How did he know those numbers were there when he checked them and then no longer there? I mean did he screenshot them or write them down?
Since he did not know how long those wrongly posted numbers would be there, I bet he bought all 26 tickets the same day. Single tickets with an extra set thrown in.
So many holes in his story.
I like how the clerk told him to throw away his ticket ( multiple times) in 40 years I never had a clerk tell me to throw away my tickets, then he says he ran right home and put the ticket in his safe.
Sounds like he's trying to be convincing. Naaaaa. Not buying his story.
Exactly.
This story has been picked up by a ridiculous number of major news outlets. I guess because his claim is so stupid.
I read in one story that he is alleging a conspiracy and didn't check his ticket right away since he had spent an "exhausting" day with his accountant (prior to checking his ticket). Lol lol. Too many colorful made up details.
Check the photos in the above story. I included the screenshot he took as well as the original ticket.
Thanks Todd. For some reason I thought this was an ad.
So...drawing on 1-7-23 and he purchased his ticket on 1-6-23.
This screenshot was from 1-8-23 and this was what made him think he won pb??? Even more ridiculous. The first set is missing a multiplier and has a number highlighted first vs at the end where the pb bonus number would normally be. I would have thought at first glance it was numbers from a different type of drawing like a pick 6 and some mix up as well. And the correct pb numbers are below in their normal format.
This is even more laughable.
Ahh...throw the guy a million. Rules, schmules! They can afford it now with high interest rates and the overinflated "jackpots" only paying 47% of face value -instead of 60% plus not too long ago.....
throw me a million too. i, uh... feel wronged.
Just played Mega Millions on-line. Should I hire an Attorney if the #'s don't come in?
I started playing when I first joined LP. Oh the conspiracy where I know they prevent me from winning every day. Oh the emotional distress after I bought that 30 room mansion and red Ferrari that I can no longer afford.
I know I see my numbers on the lottery website for a split second and then they change.