EDWIN Castro’s lottery rival made a bizarre claim after seeing photos of the winning $2.04 billion ticket – as he refused to withdraw his claim against the Powerball winner.
Los Angeles groundskeeper Jose Rivera is suing Castro for allegedly cashing a stolen ticket, which his team has denied.
5
5
Earlier this month, The US Sun revealed the first photographs of the lottery ticket taken by Castro, featuring the former mechanic’s greasy fingerprints.
Rivera said he signed the back of the ticket and wrote down the address of his sister’s home in Pasadena, where he is staying while couch surfing.
Images of Castro’s ticket show it was left blank, and Rivera has now seen photos of the receipt, insisting they are “not right.”
He told The US Sun: “You know what, that note is signed. They deleted my information.
“If you look closely, there is my phone number, they erased it with some chemicals.
“I’m going to tell my criminal lawyer to take this to a lab so they can run a test and see what kind of chemicals they used.
“I know my name was on that ticket and my phone number.”
Rivera pleaded not guilty in Pasadena after being accused of filing a false police report.
PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION
The US Sun can confirm that his lawyer for the case is new and is trying to speak with the California Lottery, which has supported Castro from the beginning.
Rivera, whose full name is José Rivera Campos, underwent a psychiatric evaluation in his criminal case a few months ago and insisted: “I’m not crazy.”
He received a public defender in Hollywood Mental Health Court and appeared before Judge Martha A. Matthews.
“The court finds Mr. Campos competent to stand trial,” she announced before the case returned to Pasadena’s main court.
Rivera cried immediately after hearing the decision and later told The US Sun: “I’m very happy with the results they gave me.
“They asked me some weird questions. If I hear voices. I’m like, ‘I don’t hear anything.’
Meanwhile, Rivera had just a few days to file documents in her civil case after she began representing herself and admitted she didn’t understand the legal process.
It appears his case could soon be dismissed, while he will face a hefty fine and jail time if convicted of filing a false police report.
The 49-year-old, whose first language is Spanish, has yet to respond to a response filed six months ago and has lost several lawyers.
He pleaded for more time to hire an attorney, and Castro’s attorney, Michael Freedman, argued that they filed the plea on February 29.
Freedman said via Zoom: “Half a year passed without any opposition. I do not think it is appropriate, at this late stage, to allow further changes to the license.”
Edwin Castro Powerball Winning Timeline
When and why Castro was prosecuted
On November 7, 2022, Castro purchased a winning Powerball ticket at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California.
The grand prize was $2.04 billion at the time – the largest in US history.
On February 14, 2023, the California Lottery announced Castro’s win, and he took home a one-time payment of $997.6 million.
Castro’s identity was disclosed, but little information was known about the former mechanic.
In May 2023, Jose Rivera, a California gardener, filed a lawsuit claiming he was the rightful owner of the golden ticket.
Rivera claimed that its former owner Urachi F. Romero stole the ticket before it ended up in Castro’s hands.
Since filing the lawsuit, Rivera has been accused of filing a false police report and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by a judge.
However, Rivera pleaded not guilty to the charge, passed the evaluation and continues to defend his story.
Crowfoot agreed to give him until August 16 to file an opposition to the objection.
But he told her he needed to hire a lawyer immediately and set a hearing for August 29.
Crowfoot explained that this would be his last chance, otherwise the case would likely be dropped.
Rivera is also suing his former owner, Urachi ‘Reggi’ Romero, for allegedly stealing his lottery ticket before it allegedly ended up in Castro’s hands, but he has yet to hire a lawyer.
He told The US Sun he believes Rivera selected the winning numbers but did not take the ticket and does not know Castro.
A tentative ruling in Rivera’s civil case, signed by the judge, says: “Plaintiff notably does not allege that Castro was ever in possession of the ticket purchased by Plaintiff.
“Instead, Plaintiff alleges that Romero ‘claimed stories of how the ‘lost’ winning ticket arrived at the [defendant].’
“Therefore, there appears to be no dispute between the Defendant and the Plaintiff regarding the ownership of the Plaintiff’s ticket.
“Further, there is no ‘real controversy’ between the Defendant and the Plaintiff regarding the lottery winnings because the bettor’s right to a portion of the winnings ‘comes exclusively from the possession of a winning ticket, and not from the mere purchase of a ticket. ‘.
“Thus, the bettor ‘has no enforceable rights in relation to the other participants, in the absence of a winning ticket’.
“Instead, Plaintiff alleges that Romero ‘claimed stories of how the ‘lost’ winning ticket arrived at the [Defendant].'”
Rivera will also appear in Pasadena criminal court on August 13.
5
5
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25572227/Process_Choice.png?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1 "Halide’s Process Zero feature captures photos without AI processing")
