$83.5M Texas Lottery Winner to Get $45.8M After Courier Fiasco

• Lottery winner caught in courier scandal gets partial payout
• Texas bans couriers after syndicate exploits ticket loophole
• Lawsuit ends with $45.8M settlement before taxes

A Houston woman whose $83.5 million Texas Lottery jackpot prize was placed in limbo amid an investigation by the state attorney general into possible misconduct will finally receive her money – but nowhere near the full amount.

Kristen Moriarty had the misfortune to win the lottery in mid-February, just as a political and public backlash against the lottery courier industry reached its height.

Texans had recently been horrified to discover that a group of courier companies had helped a European betting syndicate to buy up 25.8 million tickets for the April 22, 2023 draw — enough to cover all possible winning combinations.

The syndicate used the bulk-buying capabilities of lottery couriers to ensure they had every base covered, enabling them to scoop a $95 million jackpot and millions in secondary prizes.

‘Theft from the People’

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the lottery syndicate scheme “the biggest theft from the people of Texas in the history of Texas.” Patrick threatened to scrap the lottery altogether unless courier services were banned.

She didn’t bulk-buy millions of tickets. She simply used a service that had been operating for several years in Texas with the tacit approval of the TLC, according to the lawsuit.

‘Sad, Stressed, and Angry’

“I’m sad, stressed, angry that this has become a political thing,” she told The Texas Tribune in June. “I’ve lost faith in our elected officials. And yeah, I really don’t know what else to say that I can say out loud.”

Lottery couriers were banned shortly after Moriarty hit the jackpot, and in late May the legislature passed a bill that will do away with the beleaguered TLC, which has been heavily criticized over its management of the lottery.

The TLC IS also accused of nurturing the courier industry, thus putting ticket sales a head of the integrity of the game.