Co-worker to pay 5 NJ men millions in lottery suit
Mar 14, 2012, 8:48 PM
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) – A lawyer for five construction workers says they have been awarded $4 million each by a New Jersey jury that concluded a co-worker cheated them out of their share of a lottery jackpot.
The jury in Superior Court in Elizabeth on Wednesday rejected the claims of Americo Lopes (uh-MEHR’-ih-koh LOH’-pez) that he won the 2009 jackpot on a personal ticket rather than with a ticket he bought for a lottery pool.
Attorney Rubin Sinins represented the five men and says the $38.5 million jackpot was worth $24 million because Lopes chose the cash option.
Court spokeswoman Sandra Thaler-Gerber said earlier in the day that each plaintiff would get a pre-tax payment of $2 million. She did not return a message seeking information about the discrepancy.
The Star-Ledger of Newark says Lopes left court saying in Portuguese that he had been robbed.
___
Information from: The Star-Ledger,
http://www.nj.com/starledger
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
