Lottery Winner Admits Stealing $1M Ticket from Cousin

A lottery winner from Houston, Texas has pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny after admitting to stealing the $1M winning ticket from her cousin.

Iris Amador Argueta, 32, was initially given the scratch-off ticket to cash by the real winner, according to prosecutors. He wanted to remain anonymous, which isn’t currently an option in New York State, where the ticket was purchased. Argueta agreed to take a $50K cut for handling the money.

The winning ticket was a $5 Hold ’Em Poker scratch-off, purchased at a 7-Eleven store in Glen Cove, Long Island, where the cousin lived. At the time, Argueta was living in Virginia, and she drove to Long Island to pick it up.

Forged Letter

This occurred in November 2020, and because of COVID-19 measures in place at the time, the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) wouldn’t accept winning tickets in person, so she mailed the ticket to the commission.

Ironically, Argueta’s scheme was sunk by the very same NYSGC policy she attempted to exploit in the first place – the lack of anonymity surrounding large lottery wins.

Smelling a rat, Argueta’s cousin visited the New York State Lottery website, which showed she took a lump-sum payout of $537,440 after taxes. After he confronted his cousin and she refused to give him more money, he called the police.

Prison Likely

“This defendant thought she hit the jackpot when she passed off her cousin’s $1 million winning ‘scratch-off’ ticket as her own and claimed a lump sum payout of more than $500,000,” said Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly in a statement. “But her greedy actions also spelled the end of her luck, and now she will serve time in prison for her crime.”

Argueta will face between 15 months and four years in prison when she’s sentenced on March 15. She has also been ordered to pay $317,857.13 in winnings from her bank account to her cousin, who got to remain anonymous after all.

The DA’s Office told The Daily Mail that a judgment order for the outstanding $206,147 will be made at her sentencing hearing. During her plea hearing, she told the court she didn’t have the full sum.