This is shocking:
A woman admitted through tears Thursday that she lied about losing the winning ticket for a $162 million lottery prize, saying: “I wanted to win so badly for my kids and my family.”
Elecia Battle, 40, is dropping her lawsuit to block payment of the 11-state Mega Millions jackpot to the certified winner, her lawyer Sheldon Starke said.
“I wanted to win,” Battle said. “The numbers were so overwhelming. I did buy a ticket and I lost it. I wanted to win so bad for my kids and my family. I apologize.”
Notwithstanding this woman’s criminal history, I don’t think we should be too hard on her. If she lost a ticket, there was a 1 in 80 million chance that it could have been the winning one. I think she was entitled to a lawsuit to prove that her ticket wasn’t the 1 in 80 million.
As it turns out, I also badly want $162 million for my family, laid-off policemen, the homeless, cancer patients . . . but mainly for myself. Where do I sign up for lost and found lottery tickets?
I wonder how much city/county/state money she wasted in the first few stages of pursuing this lawsuit? DNA and fingerprint tests, legal fees, etc. And the bad publicity for the actual winner? This person actually strikes the jackpot and just like that it’s tainted.
Don’t believe her when she says just wanted to win for her kids and her family, either. She wanted that money herself.