Texas woman says friend stole winning lottery ticket

Comment #33

RJOh — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:53:03 GMT

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1162303.html

Also....... I m aggravated because a friend don t do you like that, Romero said. I m not going to to go to jail for 2 to 10 years. It s not worth it.

Apparently Tosha Romero felt she should be able to steel $20,000 from her friends without fear of going to jail.

Comment #32

garyo1954 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:46:49 GMT

According the to Star-Telegram the one time friend says she no longer wants the ticket for fear that her husband could face jail time and her kids taken away.

The friend, Tosha Romero, insists that Nancy Charlez bought the Lucky Dice ticket for her in exchange for Romero watching Charlez kids. Charlez denies that.

Romero says she made up the story about the man in the truck when it became clear that Charlez was going to claim the prize herself.

Comment #31

DelmarvaChick — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:04:29 GMT

Did you guys ever think that maybe this woman was making this story up? Kinda like that liar in Cleveland who said she had lost a winning MM ticket in the parking lot a fewyears ago and had the whole neighborhood looking for the ticket for her. If I remember correctly she also filed a police report. It just seems to me that sometimes if people make enough noise about a sob story involving money and people automatically feel bad for them and try to help....there's just that a few things about her... [ More ]

Comment #30

ICNUMBERS — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:26:01 GMT

KY Floyd,

What I have learned my whole life through is that it is up to the individual what they choose to do with there loot and or earnings. I don't see her situation being any different than the people who are in the Media curently who has lost millions of dollar to an investor who was been highly recommended and he/she has ran off with the investors money. I think that if most of us tell the truth we all do some type of frivolous spending that we should not do at some place or another.... [ More ]

Comment #29

susie545 — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:42:54 GMT

how cooky

Comment #28

RJOh — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:21:01 GMT

This story is a summation of what *NOT* to do with a winning ticket.

This story is a summation of what *NOT* to do with a any ticket because you don't what it's worth until you've checked it yourself.

Comment #27

LckyLary — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:03:12 GMT

This story is a summation of what *NOT* to do with a winning ticket.

If you're going to brag about it... don't be lazy, go to the Store yourself and validate it and fill a Claim Form.

Sign the ticket immediately! (duh!)

People are desperate during this Depression, and sometimes enough $ can make friendship be forgotten.

Don't hand a winning ticket even to your best friend. Only show after validation. I mean, isn't it more fun to

go to the Store yourself with it? If there was a sit... [ More ]

Comment #26

KY Floyd — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 07:03:31 GMT

If you don't play you won't win.

What part of lottery is confusing? If you don't play, you can't lose your money.

Desperate times cause for drastic measures.

Trying to solve your financial problems by playing the lottery isn't desperate, it's stupid. For the most part, the odds of doing anything better than breaking even are at least 25 to 1, and the chance of winning enough money that it will matter is much, much higher. The not-so-desperate measures this woman should have been taki... [ More ]

Comment #25

PERDUE — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:01:51 GMT

Can you get dumber than dumb? Why would anyone with 1/4 of a brain give a winning ticket to someone else to check for them? Come on people common sense has to come into play somewhere!! All this village idiot had to do was wait until she had the time to go and check the ticket herself. After all she has up to six months after that particular game ends to cash in her ticket. Also if she wants to know when the game ends all she has/had to do was go to the TX Lotto website and check the ticket by t... [ More ]

Comment #24

ICNUMBERS — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:28:12 GMT

SmoothJuice,

I, too would have to beg the differ. If you don't play you won't win. What it really boils down to is who needs an enemy with a friend like she had. Boy is this story sad. Desperate times cause for drastic measures. Although they say we are in a recession one should also be worried about the suppression and the depression that comes behind all this BS going on in our lives today. I pray that her family and she is able to keep their composer, opps ms composure and things work them... [ More ]

Comment #23

Litebets27 — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:07:35 GMT

I can just imagine that this young women has a limited knowledge base as far as how to claim your lottery winnings. She can't possibly be a regular player and not know to sign the back of that ticket. If she had just read the back of the ticket and followed the instructions, she may not have run into this problem.

At this time in our bad economy, more and more people are turning to playing the lottery in hopes to luck out on a big win, and many of these people don't have the foggiest of idea... [ More ]

Comment #22

starchild_45 — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:05:44 GMT

one word.

Stupid

Comment #21

truesee — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:25:19 GMT

SmoothJuice:

After thinking about it this situation I disagree with you stating that this is stupid. If you read the article it said that she was behind in her bills and that she purchased 3 tickets at $2 a piece. She only spent $6 while looking at my bills I don't have a bill that is $6.00. If you are struggling and you spend $6 and play the 4-digit lottery that will get you $30,000 or $3,000 in the 3 digit lottery is straight. She was just trying to find away to capitalize quickly on a smal... [ More ]

Comment #20

KY Floyd — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:16:29 GMT

Yes, debt is normal, so saying that you shouldn't play if you are in any kind of debt isn't realistic. OTOH, this woman apparently has more than just routine debts. Somebody who is behind on everything definitely shouldn't be spending their money on lottery tickets, or other non-essential stuff. There's more here than simply handing something worth 20 grand to a friend to suggest that maybe this woman isn't good at making wise decisions.

As for whether or not she'll ever get the money, I woul... [ More ]

Comment #19

SmoothJuice — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:22:40 GMT

Debt is normal, I guess. But if you're struggling, then it's common sense not to play.

Comment #18

MaddMike51 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:17:20 GMT

Friend?This was no friend.This was a thief that stole from her.If it hadn't been the lottery ticket that was stolen it would have been something else.

Comment #17

sorensonfan41 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:58:12 GMT

I have to agree with some of the people in this thread........it was bad judgment and just plain crazy to just hand over a 5-digit winner to a friend like that. No way would I do that if I hit $20,000 (heck, I would probably keep it under wraps and not tell anyone....not even here at LP....for a while to be on the safe side).

Comment #16

RJOh — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:56:41 GMT

Actually there's no good reason to have a ticket verified before you plan to actually claim it let alone have a friend do it for you. Since lottery tickets are presumed to belong to the bearers, no one should ever allow anyone else to hold their winning lottery tickets until after they establish their ownership.

In Ohio if your lottery ticket is worth between $600 and $5000 and you want to collect your money from a local bank rather than the nearest Lottery Regional Office then you must ge... [ More ]

Comment #15

tiggs95 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:51:19 GMT

When I hit a million I'm going to ask my neighbor to take it to Louisville and cash it for me..Yah that's what I'll do..DUMB..Take it your self.. There's one born everyday ..

Comment #14

Guru101 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:40:33 GMT

I don't understand why so many people are so caught up in verifying that the ticket is a winner before claiming it. Sure, there are extremely rare cases where the ticket wasn't actually winner, but 99.9% of the time, the ticket is correct. If I have a Powerball ticket that matches all 6 numbers that were drawn the night before, I'm not going to drive to some local store to have it verified . I'm driving to lottery Headquarters and they can verify it there at the time I claim the prize.... [ More ]

Comment #13

RJOh — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:28:30 GMT

A lottery ticket that is printed by a terminal will had a number or code that identify the retailer who sold it and a scratch off ticket will have a code that identify the roll it came from and the lottery commission will have a record of the retailer who sold that roll of tickets.

Now that there's suspicion that the ticket was stolen, the person turning in that ticket will have to come up with a believable story that checks out and risk going to jail for a while if they fail. Chances are if... [ More ]

Comment #12

justxploring — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:01:17 GMT

Believe it or not, when I was having a cup of coffee this morning (trying to stay warm) I thought of this story. Although I still think she's telling the truth, why in the world would she send someone to a convenience store after winning $20,000?

So, although I still think this is a sad story about a friend's trust, she should have used better judgment. Still, who among us hasn't done something irresponsible?

If the store manager didn't tell the police that a woman validated a scratch-of... [ More ]

Comment #11

OldSchoolPa — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:10:14 GMT

I have to disagree with you SmoothJuice...I would imagine that many people right about now have some sort of debt be it a mortgage, credit card balances, auto loans, student loans. So in that case according to your logic, the majority of people should not be playing the lottery or going to the casino. I also don't think it hurts anyone to hope for a windfall to wipe out their debt...of course, they shouldn't expect it to happen, but it never hurts to dream about it while you also work diligently... [ More ]

Comment #10

susie545 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:51:22 GMT

This is true.

Comment #9

go4it-andwin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:39:26 GMT

I find it interesting that this woman trusted her FRIEND with a winning ticket worth 20G's. If this story is true i would say this friend should have been a BEST FRIEND or LIFE LONG FRIEND. I know most people wouldnt trust just anybody with 20,000 cash because that is basically what the ticket is without a signature. I find the whole story fishy including her friend who the story doesnt mention if the police has spoken with him/her. Who do you know would give a winning lottery ticket (even if it... [ More ]

Comment #8

SmoothJuice — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:19:56 GMT

How stupid. Why do people play the lottery or gamble in general if they're struggling with bills? If you are in desperate need of money, then gambling is not a good way to go. If you are in any kind of debt and use the lottery as hope to pay off the bills, then you shouldn't be thinking of the lottery at all.

Comment #7

truesee — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:05:38 GMT

It is so important that you sign your winning ticket(s). Eventually, she will get her winnings but by the time she pays attorney fees (usually 1/3), state taxes ( in Maryland 6%) and federal taxes (40%) her winnings will be $4,134.00. It would be in her best interest to contact the friend and say if the ticket reappears I will give you a reward and just give her a thousand dollars. I would give her the money because this might take two years to work itself out.

$20000.00 x .40 =$8,000.00... [ More ]

Comment #6

Littleoldlady — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:15:39 GMT

She didn't sign it but went to let the authorities know that the ticket was stolen so now she still has a chance to get her money even though it will take a longer time.

Comment #5

jackpotismine — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:06:07 GMT

I hope that she signed it at least because then she has a great chance.

Comment #4

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:43:19 GMT

I agree. She should have waited to cash the ticket. It wasn't like she had to check it right then and there. She should have waited till she wasn't so busy. But I do think it is a sad situation to be in.

Comment #3

jackpotismine — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:33:17 GMT

I'm not that trusting. I would have waited. If it's a scratch off game I believe you have a year after the game is officially over to claim. She could have just waited until the kids were okay.

Comment #2

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:02:40 GMT

It is sad. This story shows you that you have to be careful about who you trust when dealing with a lot of money. I guess even friends can turn on you.

Comment #1

justxploring — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:08:09 GMT

If this woman is telling the truth, then it's a very sad story. I really can't blame her for trusting a friend to be honest. She had her hands full with 2 sick babies. Most people don't stop to think that giving an unsigned lottery ticket to someone is just like giving them cash. If her friend (for lack of a better word) called someone on her cell phone, it's possible she worked out a deal with someone else to claim it so she won't be recognized. What a shame.

Texas woman says friend stole winning lottery ticket

Lottery Post — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:54:24 GMT

A Fort Worth woman says her gamble in letting a friend take her winning $20,000 lottery ticket to a store to verify whether it was a winner apparently didn't pay off.

Nancy Charlez, 34, filed a police report Tuesday, saying her friend returned empty-handed. Her friend said a man in a pickup took the unsigned Lucky Dice ticket from her and said it was no good, the report claims.

Police are investigating the alleged scratch-off rip-off.

Bobby Heith, a spokesman with the Texas Lottery Comm... [ More ]