Part of stolen lottery jackpot is returned to Texas man

Comment #23

rdgrnr — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:08:55 GMT

The IRS is always the first and last vulture on the carcass of somebody's dream.

Comment #22

KY Floyd — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:51:51 GMT

Of course Willis will pay taxes on his winnings. Luckily for him, the IRS arranged to have some of the prize money withheld, so he knows exactly where that money is. Since the clerk can no longer count the recovered money as income most of the money the IRS has won't be needed to pay the clerk's income taxes, thus freeing it up to pay the taxes for Willis' income. The only real question is how easily it will all be sorted out.

Comment #21

corius$1918! — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:19:29 GMT

I too am happy the real winner has received some of his money back. I pray he gets more from the other frozen accounts.

As for the government not taxing him because taxes were paid by the robber, that is unreal. He has received a gift. It has to be counted in his income taxes like everyone else. Tax laws don't change because someone was robbed. If you disagree wth the tax system (I'm tired of being taxed to death also) then advocate through your legislature or rallies for the fair tax or othe... [ More ]

Comment #20

cashmoney$girl — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:34:43 GMT

It goes to show you that crime doesn't pay

Comment #19

buttercake — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:58:42 GMT

This is good news at least the rightful owner is getting some of his stolen winnings back

Comment #18

PERDUE — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:17:08 GMT

Rdgrnr, I'll be one of the first to admit that the government is full of greedy bas--tards.

But my bone of contention is this man doesn't qualify for being stupid/or gullible or a little slow.

All of this happened because he was too G.D. lazy to check his own numbers.

If you read the previous stories you'll see where he gave a long list of lame a$$ excuses for not checking his numbers himself. He also stated that he played the same numbers for some time. There is no way in this lifetime... [ More ]

Comment #17

rdgrnr — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:11:57 GMT

You're undoubtedly 100% right from a legal perspective.

In terms of humanity and compassion you're dead wrong.

The dadgum government wins every time.

This was this guy's once in a lifetime chance.

Let the government pay off the balance with some of them jackpots they keep that go unclaimed.

Let's face the fact that there are stupid and/or gullible people playing the lottery. Should they be taken advantage of because of that? He trusted an agent of the lottery and got ripped off. G... [ More ]

Comment #16

hsg2000 — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:11:47 GMT

Now you getting to rob this guy after he gets his money back!!

Shame where you all before he was in trouble, folks like you mushroom together for greed

Comment #15

PERDUE — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:11:46 GMT

Mr. Willis should be grateful to get what money can be recovered. So he has bills to pay. Big deal. We all do, some more than others.

I notice that no one here is willing to address how Mr. Willis became an unfortunate victim to greed because of his own laziness and tons of useless excuses of why he didn't check his tickets himself.

Don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy that Mr. Willis will receive what the state can recover. But I fail to see how anyone could actually believe that the... [ More ]

Comment #14

grave — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:06:20 GMT

With a name like willis willis he deserves all his money back....lol

Comment #13

diamondpalace — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:53:40 GMT

Reminds me of a movie Cash. Must get every penny back. LOL

I like that the law is doing something right.

Comment #12

whitmansm2 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:08:59 GMT

Its not right but of course he has to pay taxes on it! Its considered income. While that @ss that stole the money paid taxes on the whole amount, Mr. Willis only has to pay what was given to him. The government will double dip and triple dip whenever they can!

For example, a person saves all their lives....they cash out their savings (lets say 401k) they have two million dollars. two million is taxed (unless they did it right) Oopsy she died (from shock probably) but she left you in her will.... [ More ]

Comment #11

ca-dreamin* — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:49:10 GMT

I'm glad to see he's getting some of his money back.......this story is a reminder to check your own tickets! As much as we'd like to believe all store clerks are honest........

Comment #10

rdgrnr — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:33:35 GMT

Good question Starr. Rightfully, he shouldn't have to pay anything since they were already deducted but you can never count on the government to do anything based solely on it being right. Confiscating maximum cash is always job one.

Comment #9

Dollar419 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:47:35 GMT

The morale of this great story: NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP HOPE!! Again, congratulations Mr. Willis--please enjoy your winfall

Comment #8

Starr920 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:24:03 GMT

I'm glad Mr. Willis will get some of his money back

although I wonder if he will have to pay taxes

on what he receives. Taxes were already deducted

when Joshni cashed the ticket.

Comment #7

dopey7719 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:36:16 GMT

When you have a court of law stating who the real winner is and the lottery commission still won't admit that this is correct...we have a real problem. That poor man. I would like to know the back story as to how he figured out he was being ripped off.

Comment #6

rdgrnr — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:44:53 GMT

they play the lotto everyday and they were lucky

Nothing will be done about crooked clerks and owners until they start ripping off the lottery like they do the winners.

The lottery commissions really don't care about anybody getting ripped off unless it's them. It doesn't cost them a nickel if you get ripped.

Comment #5

grave — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:01:14 GMT

''Do those who sell lottery tickets win more and or more often?''

DateLine MSNBC'S Chris hansen did sort of a special on stores that sell lottery tickets that were winning everyday....... when he investigated he found out that the owner of these stores were winning everyday and all they could say was they play the lotto everyday and that they were lucky ........ i think you know were this is going......same situation as mr. willis willis only he's getting most of his money back........... [ More ]

Comment #4

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:57:57 GMT

I am glad that Mr. Willis was able to get most of his money back. Hopefully, they catch the guy who did this and punish him.

Comment #3

LANTERN — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:59:41 GMT

Maybe too young and too old make for easier targets, but I am not sure about that.

While of course not all nor maybe most lottery clerks are like that one, there might be very many that when given such a chance will right away reach out and grab it, I guess that the bigger the prize also the bigger the temptation.

But some people won't need much of a temptation, if the prize is $1, it might be big enough for them.

Some people (Many?) give their prize money away and never find out about... [ More ]

Comment #2

HaveABall — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:46:37 GMT

PLUS ... Pankaj Joshi is a thief! Look over your shoulder Pankaj Joshi!

I wonder how much in legal fees, etc. have been amassed thus far

Comment #1

konane — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:39:22 GMT

Great news, hope they're able to retrieve every penny

Part of stolen lottery jackpot is returned to Texas man

Lottery Post — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:15:28 GMT

Willis Willis will finally get some of his $1 million lottery jackpot.

On Tuesday, state District Judge Bob Perkins signed an order restoring to the Grand Prairie man $395,000 seized from the bank account of a store clerk accused of stealing the winning ticket.

I feel pretty good, a bit relieved, said Willis, 67, shortly after the hearing in Austin. I'm glad we finally made it to this point.

Willis said he planned to spend part of the money on medical bills and a daughter's college tu... [ More ]