The $83.5 Million Nightmare: 4 Shocking Details From The Texas Lottery Winner Lawsuit

The dream of winning the lottery quickly became a protracted legal nightmare for one Texas woman in 2025, culminating in a high-stakes lawsuit against the state's own gaming commission. As of December 18, 2025, the dramatic legal battle involving Kristen Moriarty and the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) has finally reached a settlement, but the case has exposed a controversial loophole and forced a major policy shift that affects every future lottery player in the state.

This is not a typical family dispute over a shared ticket; this was a winner suing the system itself after being denied an $83.5 million jackpot. The controversy centered on the use of third-party lottery courier services, a practice the TLC suddenly moved to ban, leaving Moriarty's winning ticket in legal limbo for months. The case has set a significant legal precedent for how the Texas Lottery handles prize payments in the age of digital ticket purchasing.

Profile of the Winner: Kristen Moriarty’s Fight for $83.5 Million

Kristen Moriarty, a Texas resident, became an overnight millionaire—at least on paper—when her numbers matched the winning combination for the Lotto Texas drawing on February 17, 2025. Her life-changing prize was an astonishing $83.5 million. However, the details of her ticket purchase immediately put her at the center of a massive legal and regulatory controversy.

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• The Win: Lotto Texas jackpot, drawn February 17, 2025.
• The Amount: $83.5 million (annuity value).
• The Purchase Method: Moriarty purchased the winning ticket through a third-party lottery courier service, a company that buys and manages tickets on behalf of customers.
• The Dispute: The Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) refused to pay the prize for months, claiming the use of a courier service violated state law and was part of a broader "syndicate" issue.
• The Legal Action: Moriarty filed a lawsuit against the TLC in May 2025 in a Travis County District Court to compel the commission to honor her winning ticket and release the funds.

While personal details about Moriarty remain scarce, her name is now permanently etched into Texas legal history as the lottery winner who successfully challenged the state’s lottery regulator. Her case highlighted the critical legal grey area surrounding how tickets are purchased and claimed.

The $83.5 Million Legal Fiasco: Why the TLC Withheld the Prize

The core of the legal battle was not about the validity of Moriarty’s numbers, but the method of purchase. The Texas Lottery Commission argued that third-party courier services, which operate by having agents physically purchase tickets for online customers, violated state law. Specifically, the TLC claimed these services undermined the lottery's integrity and potentially facilitated illegal activities like money laundering.

The Courier Controversy and Fraud Allegations

The dispute escalated rapidly after Moriarty’s win, coinciding with an intense regulatory crackdown on lottery courier companies, particularly Lotto.com.

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• The Ban: In February 2025, following intense legislative scrutiny and fraud allegations related to ticket sales, the TLC unanimously voted to enact a statewide ban on all lottery courier services.
• The Legal Argument: The TLC’s position was that couriers, by acting as intermediaries, were essentially selling lottery tickets online, which is prohibited by state law. They also raised concerns that the couriers were creating a "syndicate" that exploited ticket loopholes.
• The Winner's Predicament: Moriarty was caught in the crossfire. She had purchased her ticket legally at the time, but the subsequent ban and the TLC’s refusal to pay suggested the commission was retroactively applying the new policy or using the ban as justification to deny a legitimate prize.
• Lotto.com’s Counter-Suit: The courier service Lotto.com also filed a separate lawsuit against the TLC to block the ban, arguing that the new rule was arbitrary and exceeded the commission's authority.

Moriarty’s lawsuit was a direct challenge to the TLC’s authority to deny a validly drawn winning ticket, regardless of the method of purchase, forcing the state to defend its actions in court. The six-month delay in payment demonstrated the gravity of the legal disagreement.

The Final Settlement and a New Legal Precedent

After a months-long legal battle that garnered national attention, the Texas Lottery Commission conceded. In a major win for Moriarty and lottery players across the state, the lawsuit was resolved via a settlement agreement filed in the Travis County District Court.

The Payout Details

The settlement confirmed that Kristen Moriarty would receive her full prize amount, putting an end to the litigation.

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• The Resolution: The TLC accepted the settlement agreement and agreed to pay the prize.
• The Final Payout: Moriarty received the cash option value of the $83.5 million jackpot, which amounted to nearly $46 million before taxes.
• The Precedent: The outcome established a critical precedent: even amidst a controversial policy change and legal debate over the purchase method, the Texas Lottery Commission cannot withhold a legitimate jackpot from a winner who followed the rules in place at the time of purchase.

The legal action taken by Moriarty forced the TLC to acknowledge the validity of her ticket, despite their strong stance against courier services. This settlement avoided a full trial, but the court filings confirm the state's obligation to honor the prize.

Broader Implications for Future Texas Lottery Winners

The Moriarty case serves as a stark warning and a critical learning moment for anyone who plays the lottery in Texas. While Moriarty ultimately won her money, the controversy has led to permanent changes in how the lottery operates and how winners must claim their prizes.

The most significant and lasting impact is the formal ban on lottery courier services. This means that as of late 2025, Texans can no longer legally purchase tickets through third-party online platforms that act as couriers. This regulatory shift aims to eliminate the "legal grey area" that Moriarty's case exploited, ensuring that all future tickets are purchased directly from authorized retailers.

Furthermore, the case highlights the importance of legal counsel for large jackpot winners. The moment a lottery prize is disputed, the winner must be prepared to enter a complex legal fight against a powerful state agency. Moriarty's successful litigation, led by her attorneys, demonstrates that fighting the Texas Lottery Commission is possible when a legitimate claim is being denied. This landmark lawsuit will be cited for years to come in any future prize payment dispute in the state of Texas.