Lottery victim wants his $1 million

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Willis Willis has been playing the lottery for 10 years. Back in May, he finally picked the winning numbers, but ended up getting cheated when the store clerk who checked his ticket handed him only $2 and then went to cash in Willis' prize money himself.

The store clerk in Dallas, who had sold Willis tickets for years, was indicted by a Travis County Grand Jury for lottery fraud. Investigators said Pankaj Joshi cashed in Willis' winning lotto ticket, received $750,000 in cash and then took off for Nepal.

Weeks after the incident, a lottery investigator contacted Willis and told him what had happened. Though the commission has located about $350,000 of the money, Willis wants his entire winnings and has hired an Austin law firm to take over the case.

"I won the lottery but I still feel like a loser," he said. "I'll be happy when I actually get the million dollars."

The HowryBreen law firm is meeting with the Texas Lottery Commission on Monday to discuss the case. The lawyers are confident it won't have to come to a lawsuit.

"Willis is the profile of a typical lottery player," said attorney Sean Breen. "They make billions of dollars off of people like him buying tickets and if someone wins, it's their responsibility to pay."

Willis said he just hopes what has become a nightmare will evolve into the dream he always thought winning the lottery would be.