An illegal alien in California says her uncle stole a $2 million lottery jackpot she won after she handed him the winning ticket because she was afraid that claiming the prize herself could lead to her deportation.
Ruby Reyes purchased a $20 scratch-off ticket at a liquor store in Santa Rosa in late 2024 and realized she had hit the jackpot after scratching off the required words.
Rather than hand the ticket to the California State Lottery herself, she turned it over to an uncle she believed had legal residency, expecting him to cash it and return the money.
The New York Post reports that records show the uncle received a check for $1,520,004.08 after state taxes were withheld.
Reyes now claims he kept the entire prize and has cut contact with her.
“I handed it over to an uncle because, supposedly, he had the (legal resident) paperwork and was going to give me the money,” Reyes told Univision 14.
She said she immediately began making plans for her children’s future once she knew she had won.
“It was a dream I had. I only thought about my future and that of my children. I am telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, and I have sufficient evidence to win this case.”
Reyes has messaged her uncle in hopes he will reconsider and return the funds, and she stated that she has filed legal action, though she provided no further details about the case.
She declined to name the uncle publicly.
While Reyes feared that claiming the prize could get her deported, illegal aliens are not prohibited from collecting lottery winnings in California. However, they are still required to pay federal and state taxes on the prize.
The Post report notes:
In 2011, Jose Antonio Cua-Toc won $750,000 from a scratch-off ticket in Georgia, but asked his boss, Erick Cervantes, to cash it on his behalf. Cua-Toc was arrested for threatening to kill Cervantes, his wife and children after failing to receive the winnings.
An immigration judge instructed Cua-Toc to self-deport, but not before a Georgia judge granted him the jackpot prize.
