| robfantasy |
02-05-2003 01:07 AM |
Lottery Winner Turned Drug Kingpin Arrested
BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- A lottery winner may have just learned a big lesson: Easy come, easy go.
Jose Luis Betancourt had a huge stroke of luck just before Christmas when his Lotto Texas ticket matched all six numbers, netting him a $7.5 million prize.
But his luck ran out less than a month later when U.S. Customs agents found 1.63 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the dishwasher and pantry of his apartment, according to officials.
Betancourt, 53, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Feliz Recio on Tuesday and was ordered held without bond on charges of cocaine possession and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Recio said Betancourt committed a "crime of violence," and was a flight risk due to the prize he had claimed just a week earlier.
U.S. Customs Service spokesman Rick Pauza confirmed Betancourt was arrested Friday, but would not say whether the government was planning to seize his winnings.
Lottery officials said a background check on Betancourt, performed for every lottery winner, came back clear.
"We usually check to see if a person owes money for child support, taxes, things like that, before we award them the money," said lottery spokesman Keith Elkins. "Once they receive the money, we have no say on how they invest it."
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