Houston County Jurors Rule In Favor of Jailed Undocumented Immigrant in $750K Lottery Dispute

HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Houston County jury rules in favor of a jailed illegal immigrant in a battle over a $750,000 lottery ticket.

Tony Cua-Toc smiled as he entered the courtroom Thursday after winning a case that attorneys thought would go the other way.

“Obviously we’re disappointed in the jury’s verdict,” says the defendant, Erick Cervantes’s attorney Kelly Burke. “I have nothing but respect for the jury system but we thought we proved quite convincingly that Mr. Cua-Toc’s story didn’t make sense.”

It all started back in November of 2010, when Cua-Toc claimed to have won $750K after playing the Georgia Lottery; but Erick Cervantes claimed the money as his because Cua-Toc could not provide the proper documentation when he won; so Tony Cua-Toc filed a lawsuit, and a judge ordered the funds frozen.

“Once he filed his lawsuit, we quit spending any of the money,” says Burke.

Cua-Toc is serving time in the Houston County jail for drunk driving– and he is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala; but under Georgia law, that does not really matter with regards to playing the lottery.