lottery ticket unlucky for million dollar winner

LaurieJim

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.$1 million lottery ticket unlucky for winner
Bank robber faces hearing over whether he violated his probation terms

updated 4:00 a.m. CT, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007
BOSTON - The winner of a $1 million lottery scratch ticket may not be so lucky after all: He's a convicted bank robber who isn't supposed to gamble.

Timothy Elliott faces a Dec. 7 court hearing over whether he violated his probation when he bought the $10 ticket for the $800 Million Spectacular game at a supermarket in Hyannis.

Elliott was placed on five years' probation after pleading guilty in October 2006 to unarmed robbery for a January 2006 heist at a bank on Cape Cod.
Under terms of his probation, he "may not gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted, including restaurants where Keno may be played."

Elliott, 55, has collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from the Massachusetts lottery commission. A picture of Elliott, holding his first check, was posted on the lottery's Web site Monday, though it was removed by Wednesday.

As part of his sentence, Elliott was put under the care of the state Mental Health Department and sent to a hospital for treatment, and state officials refused Wednesday to say whether he was still being treated.

A telephone number for Elliott could not immediately be located Wednesday, and it was not clear whether he had a lawyer.

The lottery routinely cross references the names of winners with the state Revenue Department to see if they owe back taxes or child support, lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said. In those cases, winnings go straight to the Revenue Department.

But in this case, it will be up to the court to determine what will happen with Elliott's winnings.

"This is kind of new territory," he said.
 
.$1 million lottery ticket unlucky for winner
Bank robber faces hearing over whether he violated his probation terms

updated 4:00 a.m. CT, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007
BOSTON - The winner of a $1 million lottery scratch ticket may not be so lucky after all: He's a convicted bank robber who isn't supposed to gamble.

Timothy Elliott faces a Dec. 7 court hearing over whether he violated his probation when he bought the $10 ticket for the $800 Million Spectacular game at a supermarket in Hyannis.

Elliott was placed on five years' probation after pleading guilty in October 2006 to unarmed robbery for a January 2006 heist at a bank on Cape Cod.
Under terms of his probation, he "may not gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted, including restaurants where Keno may be played."

Elliott, 55, has collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from the Massachusetts lottery commission. A picture of Elliott, holding his first check, was posted on the lottery's Web site Monday, though it was removed by Wednesday.

As part of his sentence, Elliott was put under the care of the state Mental Health Department and sent to a hospital for treatment, and state officials refused Wednesday to say whether he was still being treated.

A telephone number for Elliott could not immediately be located Wednesday, and it was not clear whether he had a lawyer.

The lottery routinely cross references the names of winners with the state Revenue Department to see if they owe back taxes or child support, lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said. In those cases, winnings go straight to the Revenue Department.

But in this case, it will be up to the court to determine what will happen with Elliott's winnings.

"This is kind of new territory," he said.


New territory? He was ordered to NOT GAMBLE. If you ask me, he should be locked up again under violation of his probation, as well as having to repay the $50,000 they gave him in error. wtf is this world coming to?

There has to be more to the story than meets the eye. IMO he robbed that bank/whatever to either settle a gambling debt, or support his gambling habit.

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Sorry , I disagree

If they let him pay the $10 then they should let him keep the money. Would they rather him pay the money back and rob another bank?

Winbig is right...there has to be more to the story, and what does a mental hospital have to do with all of this? Is this so the state can get power of attorney and take all of his winnings legally?

People make mistakes/ bad decisions and pay the price, he did his time prison and behaved well enough to get parolle, what the f&$k is the big deal of buying a lottery ticket? He wasnt even armed so he probably did a rash thing that he regretted. It obviously wasnt thought out because he got caught and wasnt armed.
 
Winbig, right on, I agree with ya, Sir! I don't know if he has, in fact, a gambling problem. But, he broke the law, went to jail, came out, and broke it again. If nothing else he should go back in for sheer stupidity!!!

And Bingo, nice to see you so "quick on the draw"!

Jod
 
Sorry , I disagree

If they let him pay the $10 then they should let him keep the money. Would they rather him pay the money back and rob another bank?

Winbig is right...there has to be more to the story, and what does a mental hospital have to do with all of this? Is this so the state can get power of attorney and take all of his winnings legally?

People make mistakes/ bad decisions and pay the price, he did his time prison and behaved well enough to get parolle, what the f&$k is the big deal of buying a lottery ticket? He wasnt even armed so he probably did a rash thing that he regretted. It obviously wasnt thought out because he got caught and wasnt armed.


I agree on most parts, but c'mon....He was released from prison EARLY (parole). One of the conditions of his early release was that he not gamble. On anything. He broke the law (violation of his parole) by purchasing the lottery ticket, and should not see a dime, nor should he be a free man anymore. (See above, violation of his parole)


In regards to duplication, most people here can't post to the general jive section. They have to be in the webmaster group......:oops:
 
And Bingo, nice to see you so "quick on the draw"!
Jod
pnthanx.gif
 
Buying a lottery ticket is breaking the law as much as people in the 13 states here gambling, should they get their winnings from a casino or go to prison? There are shades of grey when breaking a law.

Look at the lengths people go through to try to make a deposit online? Everyone breaks the law sometime in their life and when he broke the law for the major offense, he did time. Buying a lottery ticket hardly qualifies for us to pay for him to eat and sleep for who knows how long

Id rather put my taxes towards a child molesters' prison time
 
sorry jetset

I agree on most parts, but c'mon....He was released from prison EARLY (parole). One of the conditions of his early release was that he not gamble. On anything. He broke the law (violation of his parole) by purchasing the lottery ticket, and should not see a dime, nor should he be a free man anymore. (See above, violation of his parole)


In regards to duplication, most people here can't post to the general jive section. They have to be in the webmaster group......:oops:
....sorry jetset:oops: didnt see your post in general jive as i didnt think we could post there. please accept my appolgs...............laurie................p.s when i read it i was thinking this had to be a joke, i would have done like tom said and found an old lady to cash it in or someone.it will be interesting to see the outcome on this.
 
why did he gamble in the state lottery?

if he wanted to gamble, he should do it in private and under the table, not play in a government lottery. people in "the 13 states" find ways to gamble without the government busting them, as this person should have found more subtle methods to place wagers than on a state lottery.

even the pull-off strip tickets are a better way because they are paid out at the merchant level (max prize being 100-250) rather than sent away to the gaming commission for payment. scratchies that would potentially pay big are not as EV in case a big win triggers a red flag when you go to cash out.

but even better would be for him to play online, or play live poker/casino games (perhaps not in state-run b/m's, but informal games)

as for the winnings in this case, i think it's only a question of where they'll go once they're seized, not if the guy should get paid or not. but a good lawyer could make a case for him to keep it.

like i personally don't believe the government can justify prohibiting you from doing something that is not an immediate danger to the public. i endorse orders not to drink or use drugs because those things in a certain personality could cause accidents/crimes to happen easily. but forbidding someone from buying a lottery ticket, or someone (even an arsonist on probation) from carrying a lighter?

those acts don't harm anyone, and though the instruments (bet slips or lighters) can be preconditions for a repeat offence, i don't think you have the right to take that person's freedoms away. what if a gang member was paroled, ordered not to carry any weapons, and the rival gang jumps him and hospitalizes him because they knew he didn't have the arms to fight them off with?

so i also don't feel buddy should be in jail even though he violated his terms. the terms are unjust anyway. plus, it was already said about quality tax money (and i'll add precious prison space) devoted to someone guilty of entering the lottery. is that good for the public? what's the chance that $10 ticket was going to cause a crime to occur? slim to nil. worth putting into writing as a probationary clause and ultimately locking someone up over? nay says i.

fair to seize winnings? aye says i. his fault for getting caught betting. he had anonymous/underground options, but chose to bet in a glorified state-sponsored mega-lotto drawing. i think the government will take the winnings, and will put it into roads/infrastructure, add it to some kind of slush fund, or what should rightly happen, the money put back in the lottery pool (or divided among the rightful recipients, if it was a joint win splitting the payout% for that prize's win).

and i don't know if i found any relation to webmastering in the story, which i thought someone got chastised about after posting in general jive?

:thumbsup:
 
The terms were unjust??? What if gambling was the reasons behind the ROBBERY he committed? The parole board apparently thought that if he were to gamble again, he might commit more robberies.

He apparently has no self control and needs help. Maybe he can get that better not in prison, but maybe he can finish his sentence out in a psych facility?
 
right but that doesn't mean that him losing on one, two or five lottery tickets is going to CAUSE him to rob a store again. and who knows if he might commit a robbery even without having gambled? he's been released, so basically you are trusting him not to commit a robbery.

i'd give you if it was found that he had been betting excessively since his release, that there is reason for alarm. if he was accruing a large debt from gambling, such that he might be inclined to break the law for money again, then he needs help. i could endorse a condition not to accrue a significant debt from gambling, or not to gamble to excess or for high stakes, but to completely bar all gambling is excessive if you are letting the person live in normal society.

that's what i was getting at, the prohibition from normal liberties, so long as they are used responsibly as anyone else would use it. an arsonist still needs to light his cigarettes, a gambler-at-heart can have a punt and a good time playing on the cheap and intermittently.

of course i can agree with conditions against drinking or using drugs or owning a gun in cases where these were involved in crimes, because these substances have the potential to directly harm society when in the hands of the offender. but a lighter, a bet slip, a cell phone (after stalking/negligence convictions), these are not things that are inherently dangerous to those near the holder. they must be used improperly or maliciously by someone with the intention to do so. i believe in caution, but not oppression.

back to the specific case, the authorities probably never would have known he was gambling in the lottery, no matter how excessively, unless he happened to win a big prize. plus, when a gambler is ahead, he would have no reason to contemplate criminal acts for the purpose to obtain money. if they paid this guy for his winning ticket, he would probably fly straight, coast off his win, and even afford to enjoy a more liberal gambling budget without fear. even if he gambles the whole lot away, he's not in any more likely a position to commit a crime for money than before he won.

like in this case, it seems the offender had a good idea to invest in the lottery, and his number was up. it's too bad it didn't come before he found himself committing robbery. i'm blathering on now... you get my point.

:thumbsup:
 

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