Mega Millions Lottery Dispute

As a follow up to a previous post, the winning ticket for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery was turned into the Lottery Commission by Rebecca Jemison who is not the person previously reported as the winner. The woman who claimed to have lost the winning ticket, Elecia Battle, was found to have a very unconvincing story and a criminal record. She had convictions for misuse of a credit card and criminal trespassing.

Apparently Battle forgot to tell her lawyer, Sheldon Starke, of the convictions before he filed suit on her behalf to block the Lottery Commission from paying Rebecca Jemison. Starke was not happy when questioned by the media.

Dennis G. Kennedy, director of the Ohio Lottery, said the lottery was confident Jemison bought the winning ticket. She provided another lottery ticket bought at the same time and had a ticket from a previous drawing with the same numbers, Kennedy said.

Elecia Battle today made a teary-eyed public statement that she only did it because she needed the money. She did not admit to lying to the police for which she is still being investigated. She may be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail.

My take is that Elecia Battle isn't too bright if she thinks that she can pull off a grade-school scam when $162,000,000 is involved. With her scamming skills, I'd suggest she concentrate on scores involving less than fifty bucks.

[Update 1/10/04] Elecia Battle's tearful apology on Thursday was followed by a visit to the police station on Friday where, in the presence of Sheldon Starke, her attorney, she admitted to filing a false police report. Consequently, she was charged with misdemeanor falsification according to police Lt. Kevin Nietert.

A hearing at Lyndhurst Municipal Court is scheduled for Jan. 15.

Link to Beltway Traffic Jam at OTB.