"Robber May Have To Give Up $1M Lottery Prize"

from thebostonchannel.com

 

Convicted Bank Robber Banned From Gambling

 

BOSTON -- A man who won $1 million on a lottery scratch ticket on Cape Cod may be asked to return the money because he is a convicted bank robber who was not allowed to gamble.

NewsCenter 5's Steve Lacy reported that Timothy Elliott bought a scratch ticket for the "$800 Million Spectacular" game at a Hyannis supermarket. As part of Elliott's probation, he was not allowed to play the lottery, but he collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from the lottery on Monday.

Lottery officials said that they followed standard procedure, performing a financial check on Elliott before releasing his winnings.

"Any back taxes, if there are any liens against them, any judgments against them for back child support," said Dan Rosenfeld, of the Massachusetts Lottery. "It will be interesting to see how it turns out, and obviously, we will follow what the courts tell us to do."

At the store where the ticket was sold, customers were split as to whether he should be able to keep the money.

"I would say that he should keep it," said Alan Simoneaux , of Centerville. "It will probably keep him out of trouble."

"I think they should put him in jail," another person said.

Elliott is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 7 for violating his probation.