Americo Lopes Ordered to Split $17 Million in Lottery Winnings
Americo Lopes, a former construction worker, will have to give five of his one-time co-workers their share of lottery winnings after a jury ordered him to do so.
All the men worked for Berto Construction, Inc. and it is there when the group started to play the Mega Millions lottery back in 2007.
Lopes, the defendant, was the one who would organize and buy the lottery tickets. According to Lopes he would buy the tickets a few times a month or when the jackpot got really big.
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As luck would have it, one of the tickets bought hit the lottery in November of 2009. However, Lopes did not tell anyone about the winnings even after he left his job.
Growing suspicious, Lopes former co-workers sued him, claiming that the winning ticket was from the pool and that Lopes had cut them out of their share.
On Wednesday, a jury in Union County ordered Lopes to divide the winnings equally between himself and his five former co-workers. After taxes, the total kept by Lopes was $17,433,966, which means that the plaintiffs will receive $2,905,661 per person.
It seems that Lopes might have gotten away with keeping the money for himself, but he told Candido Silva Jr., a former co-worker about the incident in March 2010, according to The Star-Ledger.
Silva Jr. said the verdict was just and fair.
"If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to worry about," he explained.
"I have a lot to do. My granddaughter was born yesterday. I have to buy her a present she'll remember." Carlos Fernandez, one of the five plaintiffs said, according to NJ.com.
Lopes was not as celebratory after hearing the jury's decision, only stating that "they robbed me."
During the course of the trial, Lopes repeatedly explained that he had bought the winning ticket on his own, separate from any tickets he had purchased for the group.
