BEEBE, Ark. (AP) — When she plucked a winning lottery ticket out of the trash, Sharon Jones’ luck changed instantly. The $1 million prize let the Arkansas woman pay off debts, give thousands of dollars to her children and buy a gleaming new pickup truck.
But now her jackpot is in jeopardy. A judge ruled this week that the money belongs to another woman, who says she threw the ticket away after a lottery machine incorrectly told her it was a loser. The Arkansas Lottery Commission is trying to stay out of the fray, insisting it did nothing wrong.
Jones claimed the $1 million prize last July, turning in a scratch-off ticket that the other woman, Sharon Duncan, had purchased moments earlier at a convenience store.
