Lotto victim meets with commissioners

AUSTIN (KXAN) - With no income and four daughters, Willis Willis calls himself broke. Now, he plans on suing the Texas Lottery Commission for the $1 million he said he is owed.

"If I give up now, I'm just going to be giving up on what I might have had," said Willis. "So, I'm just gonna keep on going."

Willis and his attorney Randy Howry met with the Texas Lottery Commission Tuesday morning, waiting to see if the commissioners have anything to say regarding Willis' lost winnings after a store clerk allegedly stole his jackpot. However, after going into executive session for more than hour, the commissioners emerged from the closed-door meeting with nothing to say to Willis.

"The eyes of Texas are on you," Howry told the commissioners before their executive session. "The eyes of nation and the world are on this case."

A Texas Lottery attorney already told Howry that they wouldn't pay out the money twice, citing the Texas Lottery had already declared store clerk Pankaj Joshi the winner.

Willis played the lottery for 10 years before he finally chose the winning numbers in May. However, he got cheated out of his life's dream of winning the lottery when Joshi allegedly checked his ticket and handed him only $2 before driving to Austin and cashing in Willis' prize money himself.

Willis said Joshi had sold him his tickets for years.

A Travis County grand jury indicted Joshi for lottery fraud. Investigators said Joshi received $750,000 in cash before taking off to 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.

The Travis County District Attorney's office plan on filing for a property rights hearing. They must first try to locate Joshi before the hearing can happen. That is when Willis could get the $350,000.

Howry said an acceptable conclusion would be Willis getting the $350,000 that was frozen in the account and the Texas Lottery paying out the difference. After taxes, Willis' winnings would be around $750,000.

Lawyers with the HowryBreen law firm had hoped it wouldn'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."

The Texas Lottery won't comment on the case.