David DePaoli, Edwin Castro’s lawyer in the lawsuit over the alleged theft of the $2 billion Powerball in California, indicated that it took his client a while to claim the prize because they were working through a lot of background issues.
“It’s a lot of money,” DePaoli told The US Sun.
“Because we established a lot of things in the background,” the lawyer alleged about the time that passed before the request for the win.
DePaoli added that he has been working with Castro since the day after he won the money.
“You’d be surprised how much that requires,” he added.
Court documents reviewed by The US Sun reveal that Castro began receiving deposits of prize money on January 18. The draw took place on November 8.
The legal defender assured that Castro is doing many good things with the money. However, he doesn’t want anyone to know.
“He doesn’t want to talk to the media,” he said.
“He is a very humble, intelligent…young guy, but he is not a party animal; he is very close to his family; “He is spending the money well,” the lawyer assured.
According to the legal representative, dozens of emails reach Castro every week asking for money. He added that his client has quietly donated money to causes he personally identifies with.
Since he was announced by the California Lottery as the winner of the largest prize in the history of gambling in the country, the Hispanic has not made any statements to the media. He also did not participate in the Feb. 14 press conference at which lottery officials released his name.
A little more than a week later, José Rivera filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles County court system alleging that Urachi F. Romero, his former landlord, stole the ticket that Castro ended up collecting.
DePaoli did not go into the specific allegations of the legal appeal this time.
But in previous statements to the aforementioned media, he insisted that the lawsuit has no legal basis.
One of the main arguments of Castro and his lawyer is that there is no data in the lawsuit about how the ticket passed from one hand to another.
“There is no legal basis or foundation to this lawsuit. At this point, we are working on the service process, but there are enormous problems with demand,” De Paoli said last July.
“At some point, it will be clear that Edwin G. Castro is the rightful owner of the ticket,” he added.
“I don’t know if they want to be paid and get money, but they are not going to receive a single dollar,” said the legal representative about possible intentions of the other two Hispanics.
Rivera has not offered statements to the press either.
In the case of Romero, he indicated in an interview with The New York Post last May that Rivera showed him the ticket and explained the selection of each of the winning numbers.
However, he assured that he did not steal the ticket and that he does not know how Castro ended up claiming the money.
Romero is currently serving a prison sentence in California for a drug and weapons possession case.
Keep reading:
Edwin Castro case: Urachi F. Romero, accused of stealing a $2 billion Powerball ticket in California, is arrested for possession of a weapon and drugs
Video shows José Rivera looking for the winning ticket for the $2 billion Powerball that was supposedly stolen from him in California