A jury ordered Americo Lopes to share a Mega Millions jackpot with five co-workers: from left, Candido Silva Sr., Jose Sousa, Daniel Esteves, Carlos Fernandes, and Candido Silva Jr.
By JAMES BARRON and TIM STELLOH
Published: March 14, 2012
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There were some dark twists in the plot line, inevitable, perhaps, when friends fight over $38.5 million in lottery winnings.
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So You Won $38.5 Million? Not So Fast, Co-Workers Say (March 8, 2012)
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Pool photo by Frances Micklow
Americo Lopes initially told no one that he had won a jackpot of $38.5 million.
The friends, construction workers from New Jersey, said they had pooled their money for lottery tickets for years. Five of them relied on a member of their little group, Americo Lopes, to buy the tickets. In November 2009, he collected their money and bought a Mega Millions ticket that won, but he told no one except lottery officials. He cashed in the ticket as if it were his alone.
The lottery deducted taxes and sent Mr. Lopes a check for $17,433,966. He quit his job, saying he needed foot surgery.
"We believed him," said one of the others, Candido Silva Jr. — until several months later, when Mr. Lopes told another man in the group that he had won the lottery a week after he had stopped working. As word of his luck spread, yet another man checked a Web site and discovered when Mr. Lopes had won.
On Wednesday, a jury in Union County ordered Mr. Lopes to share the winnings with the five former co-workers.
Mr. Lopes (pronounced LOHPS) did not sound happy; The Star-Ledger of Newark quoted him as saying, in Portuguese, "They robbed me."
The case was based largely on circumstantial and, at times, emotional evidence. If this trial suggested some similarity to " It Could Happen to You, " a movie loosely based on a real-life lottery winner's generous tip to a waitress, the proceedings proved otherwise: There was testimony of greed, lies and betrayed friendship.
"We trusted him," Jose Sousa, 46, said on Wednesday. "He cheated us." Of the jury's decision, he said: "We proved that we're not lying. This is the most important thing."
Mr. Lopes's lawyer, Michael D. Mezzacca, did not return calls for comment on Wednesday. During the trial, he said that the lack of written records cast doubt on the co-workers' allegations. He said that because the group did not document who had bought what, no one could say with certainty who had actually paid for the winning ticket.
Mr. Lopes, 52, maintained during the trial that he had bought the winning ticket on his own, separate from any tickets he had gotten for the group. He said he often bought tickets for the group and for himself at the same time.
Mr. Lopes's wife, Margarida, testified that Mr. Lopes finally called one of the men in the group in March 2010 and let the word out about winning. She said the man, Daniel Esteves, had cried on hearing the news.
Another worker, Candido Silva Sr., 61, cried on the witness stand. His son, Mr. Silva Jr., 36, said the case had been stressful, but the verdict was what he and the others had expected.
"If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to worry about," Mr. Silva Jr. said as he and his co-workers finished a celebratory meal in Elizabeth, N.J.
The five said they had known Mr. Lopes for years and considered themselves close friends of his. Mr. Silva Sr. said that in 2008 — long before the uproar over the ticket — he helped fix up a house Mr. Lopes had bought. He said they worked on the driveway together. And the sidewalk. And the basement. Mr. Silva Sr. said, as he did in court, that he had looked on Mr. Lopes as a son.
Mr. Sousa said they were all so close that Mr. Lopes attended his daughter's christening five years ago. He said he was still upset that Mr. Lopes testified that the six men had not been friends.
The money was frozen shortly after the men filed suit in 2010. For now, the men said, they were not planning any major lifestyle changes. They said they would take two weeks off for vacation, but would probably return to the highway construction crew that had once included Mr. Lopes.
As it happened, their winning ticket was not the only one drawn for the jackpot, $77 million; another ticket-buyer, identified as Lourdes Salinas of South San Francisco, had the identical numbers for the Nov. 10, 2009, drawing. Her part of the prize was not affected by the jury's decision in New Jersey.
The verdict did not surprise people at the convenience store in Union, N.J., where Mr. Lopes bought the ticket. One customer at the store, a BuyRite in 2009 that is now the Magie Mart Food Store and Deli, said it had reinforced his approach:
"I play by myself because I don't trust people," said the man, who would give his name only as Sean, explaining that he regularly played the New Jersey Pick 3 and Pick 6 games as well as Mega Millions. "Am I shocked he tried to keep the money for himself? No. It's human nature."
Eric Kahn, a lawyer for Mr. Lopes's former colleagues, said some details had to be worked out, like how much each man would receive and how much each might owe in taxes.
"The lottery paid him," Mr. Kahn said, referring to Mr. Lopes, "and the lottery withheld a chunk of taxes."
"We've got to work on the taxes," he said.
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