Powerball Refuses $350 Million Jackpot Winner Due To ‘Mistake’ On Website

John Cheeks is suing Powerball and the D.C. Lottery for withholding what he believes are his rightful earnings.

Powerball is not granting an alleged winner his $350 million winnings due to a website error. In response, John Cheeks is suing Powerball and the D.C. Lottery for withholding what he believes are his rightful earnings.

Cheeks spoke to NBC 4 about the incident, saying he bought the ticket and played numbers derived from family birthdays, on Jan. 6, 2023. At the time, the jackpot had reached a massive $340 million. However, believing the odds were not strongly in his favor, he did not check his numbers on the live broadcast, only going on to the D.C. Lottery’s website the next day to find that he seemingly won the grand prize.

For days, the website showcased the numbers found on Cheeks’ ticket, but the issue stemmed from the set of seven not matching what was broadcasted. Cheeks only discovered this went he went to turn in his ticket, which had none of the winning numbers present.

Cheeks then went to present his case to the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming prize center, which also denied him the cash. The ticket was deemed so worthless by the center that he was told to trash it.

“’Hey, this ticket is no good. Just throw it in the trash can,’” remembered Cheeks of the employee’s words. “And I gave him a stern look. I said, ‘In the trash can?’ ‘Oh yeah, just throw it away. You’re not gonna get paid. There’s a trash can right there.’”

Despite Cheeks’ quest to be the jackpot’s rightful winner, the Powerball continued to rise to $754.6 million before a new winner was announced on Feb. 6. His lawyer remains adamant that something must be done to give his client some semblance of justice for the website error.

His lawyer said, “Even if a mistake was made, the question becomes: What do you do about that?”

Cheeks continues to keep the ticket in a safe compartment as his lawsuit gets underway.

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