A now-defunct Texas state lottery agency and its former leader have been criminally charged with collaborating with professional bettors overseas to arrange a guaranteed jackpot in a 2023 drawing that amounted to nearly $58 million.
Prosecutors in Travis County this week indicted the former Texas Lottery Commission, as well as its former executive director, Gary Grief, with abusing their offices in connection with the plan, according to Mr. Grief’s lawyer.
The charges date to April 2023, when the commission, under Mr. Grief, helped facilitate a scheme by professional gamblers in Europe to purchase tickets with nearly every possible number combination ahead of a drawing that month that was worth $95 million. The plan essentially made it a mathematical certainty that the bettors would win the jackpot.
And, just as expected, they did. The winner, identified as a business entity called Rook TX, of Scotch Plains, N.J., ended up claiming the lump-sum payment of $57,804,000 before taxes.
Mr. Grief acknowledged in a news release at the time that “purchasing groups” had ensured that more than 99 percent of the number combinations had been sold. There is “no prohibition on these types of purchases,” he added.
But the suspicious jackpot drew immediate scrutiny from lottery watchers, and details of the plan began to emerge, some it through reporting by The Houston Chronicle.
The jackpot led to a firestorm that engulfed Texas politics, prompted investigations and ended in the dismantling of the Texas Lottery Commission.
Mr. Grief, who resigned in 2024 and has said he would cooperate with the authorities, has defended the scheme as perfectly legal, and more than that, as good business for the state. By working with the international bettors, he has argued, the lottery agency guaranteed that every single ticket would be sold — a significant windfall for Texas schools, which the lottery helps fund.
In a statement to The New York Times on Friday, Sam Bassett, Mr. Grief’s attorney, characterized the case against his client as a product of politicians “searching for a scapegoat.” He said his client had cooperated with an investigation conducted by the Texas Rangers.
“When all facts are revealed in court, the public will see that Gary’s leadership at the Lottery Commission generated millions of dollars for Texas schools and veterans and there was no crime,” Mr. Bassett said. Mr. Grief could not be reached for comment on Friday.
But some state lawmakers contend that the plan defrauded ordinary players and undermined the lottery’s integrity.
A grand jury indicted Mr. Grief and the Texas Lottery Commission in April, but prosecutors quickly dropped the charges, without saying why. The new case appeared identical.
The Texas Tribune reported that the charges were placed under seal and were out of public view.
The Travis County district attorney’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
Michael Levenson contributed reporting.
Chris Hippensteel is a reporter covering breaking news and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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