Posted on 01/08/2004 10:58:55 AM PST by marshmallow
CLEVELAND - A woman admitted through tears Thursday that she lied about losing the winning ticket for a $162 million lottery prize, saying: "I wanted to win so badly for my kids and my family."
Elecia Battle, 40, is dropping her lawsuit to block payment of the 11-state Mega Millions jackpot to the certified winner, her lawyer Sheldon Starke said.
"I wanted to win," Battle said. "The numbers were so overwhelming. I did buy a ticket and I lost it. I wanted to win so bad for my kids and my family. I apologize."
The Cleveland woman had filed a police report saying she lost the ticket, possibly when she dropped her purse outside a convenience store. The lottery dismissed the claim and declared Rebecca Jemison, 34, the winner on Tuesday.
Police Lt. Kevin Nietert said Thursday he expected Battle to be charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail.
Battle apologized to her husband, her lawyer and Jemison, saying she wanted to use the money to help her family and recently laid-off Cleveland police officers.
"I'm not a bad person, I'm really not," she said. "Everyone has a past."
Lottery officials said they knew the truth all along.
"The Ohio Lottery from the beginning had all the confidence in the world that Rebecca Jemison had the winning ticket and purchased the winning ticket," spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said.
Jemison had provided another lottery ticket purchased at the same time and location and had a lottery ticket that showed she had played the same numbers in the prior drawing, the lottery said.
Battle's police report said the ticket numbers were related to her family, and police initially said she had a credible story because she knew details such as the approximate time the winning ticket was bought.
Police and court records show Battle has a criminal history.
While working at a Richmond Heights pharmacy in 1999, Battle used a customer's credit card number to make purchases, police said. She paid a $450 fine for misuse of a credit card, and a 10-day jail sentence was suspended.
Battle was convicted in 2000 in Cleveland Heights of assault for grabbing a drug store clerk's hair and scratching her, according to police records. Battle got a six-month suspended sentence.
She was convicted of criminal trespassing in 2002 and paid restitution of about $1,250, according to South Euclid court records. Fines were suspended because she was indigent.
Jemison, a hospital telephone operator who lives in suburban South Euclid, qualified for a lump-sum payment of $67.2 million, after taxes.
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