Texas lottery winner gets payout 6 months late after court battle with state

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A Texas woman finally received her winnings from a $83.5 million lottery jackpot ticket after a six months of waiting and a legal battle launched by state officials who refused to pay, pending a Texas Rangers investigation.

Kristen Moriarty received approximately $34 million, after taxes, from her Feb. 17 Lotto Texas win, her attorney Randy Howry announced. The payout came just days before a scheduled court hearing that could have forced the state to release the funds.

“What should have been a life-changing celebration in her life, winning the Texas lottery, turned out to be a stress-filled, painful ordeal,” said Howry during a press conference last week. “They held her winnings hostage as they sought to dismantle the Texas lottery.”

Moriarty purchased $20 worth of lottery tickets through DraftKings, a third-party courier app that allows players to buy official state lottery tickets online. When she attempted to claim her winnings, the Texas Lottery Commission refused payment amid a legislative push to ban such apps.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had made eliminating the Texas lottery one of the Texas Senate’s priorities during the 2025 regular session. The day after Moriarty’s win, Patrick filmed a video where the winning ticket was printed. Although Moriarty purchased the ticket online, through a lottery courier service, the physical ticket was printed at a store in Austin.

“It is a hard line, couriers have to go,” Patrick said during the legislative session.

He said that his worries came from an April 2023 drawing, in which a single entity used lottery couriers to purchase more than $25 million worth of tickets to nearly guarantee a $95 million jackpot win.

Lawmakers questioned lottery officials as to how this could have happened. The director, Ryan Mindell, officially moved to ban lottery couriers after Moriarty’s win. Gov. Greg Abbott then called on the Texas Rangers to investigate the win.

“Governor Abbott tried to move the goal posts in the middle of the football game despite the fact that Kristen Moriarty had played by all the rules,” Howry said. “There’s nothing in the Texas lottery rules that says if a person wins, their ticket’s validated, they are the winner, that we can order a ranger investigation.”

The Texas legislature has since criminalized courier apps and banned purchases of more than 100 tickets in a single transaction. However, Moriarty won before the rule changes took effect.

State attorneys initially claimed sovereign immunity in the case, arguing officials could not be compelled to pay. However, the state capitulated and agreed to process the payout on August 5.

“We held Governor Abbott, we held Lieutenant Governor Patrick accountable and said, ‘You can’t treat people this way,'” Howry said.

A spokesperson for the Texas Lottery said it decided to pay out the winnings after guidance from the Office of the Attorney General. Nexstar reached out to the OAG to ask why it decided to pay out the winnings even though the Texas Rangers are still investigating Moriarty’s win, and have not received a response.

Howry said the majority of lottery tickets were purchased through apps before the recent ban. He also called the prohibition “ludicrous” given that people buy “everything via app” these days.

The Texas Lottery Commission is scheduled to be abolished Sept. 1, with oversight transferring to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. A spokesperson for TDLR said the top priorities for Sept. 1 are to ensure lottery employees receive their paychecks and all vendors, and winners, receive their payments. The spokesperson said they are confident both will happen.

They also confirmed that most lottery employees will remain on staff under the TDLR Lottery and Charitable Bingo Division. Sergio Rey, who was sued by Moriarty to pay her winnings, will remain as the interim lottery and charitable bingo deputy executive director, according to the TDLR spokesperson.