Winner of world-record lottery jackpot will get to keep his $2 billion
By Kate Northrop
If it wasn't official before, it is now. $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot winner Edwin Castro will unequivocally get to keep his prize after a California judge ruled in his favor.
A California judge dismissed the lawsuit against $2.04 billion Powerball winner Edwin Castro that claims he is not the real winner of the jackpot, meaning there is now zero question that he is the true owner of the winning ticket.
In February 2023, an Altadena man named Jose Rivera, 43, launched allegations that Castro was not the true winner of the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. Rivera claimed that he himself bought the winning ticket, but that it was stolen from him and somehow ended up in the hands of Castro.
The person who Rivera alleges stole the winning ticket from him was Urachi F. Romero, or "Reggie," his former landlord.
Rivera said that after the winning numbers were drawn, he repeatedly asked Romero to give the ticket back, but he refused. Romero then allegedly threatened to destroy the ticket if Rivera did not agree to split the winnings, by Rivera's account.
Rivera's lawsuit named the California Lottery, Castro, and Romero as defendants and asked the court to name him the official winner of the $2 billion Powerball jackpot, in addition to receiving damages.
Although Romero denied Rivera's claims that he stole the ticket from his former tenant, he did not deny that Rivera may have had the winning ticket in his possession before it somehow landed in Castro's possession. According to Romero, Rivera did show him the winning ticket the night he supposedly purchased it at Joe's Service Center in Altadena and explained the significance of each number.
"I saw Jose Rivera with that ticket... he showed it to me," Romero had said. "I asked him why he picked two 10's. He said it was the date his parents both died. He picked 47 because that's how old he is. He also said his dad always wanted a 1956 Chevy truck, so he picked 56. He had a reason why he chose every number, and he told me this before [the drawing]."
Romero claimed that he had been receiving threats since Rivera named him in the lawsuit, but he insisted that he had no ties to Castro and has no idea how it ended up in his hands. He had even let Rivera rifle through his belongings to prove he had nothing to hide.
"I could be grimy or 'sheisty,' but in reality, Jose Rivera did show me that ticket before he knew it was the winning ticket," Romero told the New York Post. "I don't know how he lost that ticket. I hope my name will be cleared because it is weird that I'm in the middle of all this money, but I still have nothing. How can I steal that ticket worth billions and not have a dollar?"
However, Castro's lawyer, David De Paoli, responded to all the allegations by saying that he witnessed his client purchasing the ticket in question.
"I have personally viewed the CCTV footage, and it is crystal clear... Edwin Castro purchased the winning Powerball ticket without question," De Paoli said in a statement to the US Sun.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the California Lottery has also repeatedly remained steadfast in affirming Castro as the true winner, saying that they wouldn't go awarding the largest lottery jackpot in history unless they were absolutely certain they had the right winner.
"Further, when it comes to the vetting process for big winners, California Lottery has the utmost confidence in its process for doing so," the Lottery said in a statement. "California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion prize stemming from the Powerball drawing in November of 2022."
A Los Angeles County judge overruled Rivera's lawsuit, citing the lack of physical evidence — a lottery ticket — court documents obtained by TMZ state. The ruling placed less emphasis placed on who bought the ticket and instead focused on who held it as a bearer instrument.
"Players are solely responsible for securing their Tickets against theft, loss, damage, or destruction," the judge said in court documents. "The person in possession of a winning lottery ticket is the presumptive owner/winner."
If Castro was ever worried about the outcome at any point throughout the court battle, he did not seem to show it. Over the course of the last two years, he spent tens of millions on three California mansions and luxury sports cars.
Thanks to Evan B. for the tip.
Treat every ticket as a winning ticket! Never show off your lottery tickets! Never know! I feel bad for Rivera, but that's one huge painful lesson that'll cost him more than cry me a river.
lol
its all just an act.
This is why every state should be anonymous.
* It was a weak case to begin with, l am surprised it lasted this long.
Reminds me of a story in Ohio where a woman said she lost her jackpot winning ticket in the parking lot at the store where she bought it. Several people looked everywhere for the ticket but it was never found. The search ended when they were told the jackpot winning ticket was sold at a store across town.
Way to go, Mr. Castro!
A lottery ticket is a bearers instrument.
A quick internet search tells me the following:
"A bearer instrument is a document that gives the holder the rights to the property or securities it represents. The holder is presumed to be the owner, and the instrument can be transferred by simply handing it over to another person.
Bearer instruments can be risky because they can be lost or stolen, and whoever finds them can use them. They can also be difficult to trace in case of disputes."
Well, well, despite all that may or may not have had happened, that is what a lottery ticket is.
lottery a ripoff one winner a billion
dollars
Rivera's story doesn't add up. Wouldn't the lottery know if more than one winning ticket was sold? But then that would mean that he and Romero are both lying.
Shouldn't the store it was bought in have a surveillance video of the person buying it?
Rivera is nothing but a Low life Scum . Looks like a low Life talks like a low life Reasons like a low life he should go to jail for six months. This case lasted simple because lawyers smell money Bloody crocodiles 🐊 l was just thinking 🤔 one way to deal with this situation is to make a video of yourself buying your ticket especially Huge jackpot so you can present your Video evidence and put this type of Scum Bag to Sleep 😴
It takes time to go through a legal matter from prehearings to addressing various filings, long before the actual hearing and judge ruling. The court calendars these activities and they do not occur quickly. This costs money and 99% of non attorneys are not qualified to handle these things. So yes, we get paid well.
Would you want to lose a strong case for improper or late filings?
Filming yourself buying a ticket is not that helpful. Instead, make copies of the ticket and take a photo.
And Riviera had a right to his day in court just like we all do.
Well you said it won't be helpful but think about it this way When the state of California releases the store surveillance and the store surveillance also shows you filming yourself and both the store surveillance and your iPhone video match at that precise time and second then this case is precisely over 😁