Casino sues lottery winner (AP) Updated: 2006-06-08 09:37 Caesars casino is suing the winner of a $315
million lottery jackpot, claiming he bounced checks worth $1.5 million trying to
cover gambling losses.
Jack Whittaker, whose Powerball win in 2002 was at the time the largest
undivided lottery jackpot, claims he doesn't owe the money.
In a filing made in response to Caesars lawsuit, Whittaker said the casino
actually owes him money because it agreed to give him a percentage of revenue
from a slot machine he developed and to credit his gambling losses.
The casino, owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., filed the lawsuit in 2005,
a year after it said the bad checks were written. The case came to light
recently when the documents were subpoenaed in an unrelated wrongful-death
lawsuit against Whittaker.
The lawsuit involves Jesse Joe Tribble, 18, who was found dead in a home
owned by Whittaker in September 2004. The teen was an acquaintance of
Whittaker's 17-year-old granddaughter, and the lawsuit claims she bought drugs
with Whittaker's money and shared the drugs with her friends.
Tribble's father blames Whittaker, who had custody of his granddaughter.
Whittaker says Tribble bought the drugs and that his granddaughter, Brandi
Bragg, wasn't home when Tribble died.
The father's attorney, Tom Peyton, sought copies of surveillance tapes and
other records related to Whittaker's gambling trips as part of the wrongful
death lawsuit.
Since his Powerball win, Whittaker has been beset by problems. He's been
arrested for drunken driving, had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from
him, and Bragg died of a drug overdose, just months after Tribble's death.
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