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Iris Argueta, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree grand larceny in Nassau County Court on Friday, Jan. 20.
Prosecutors said the victim bought the winning $5 Hold ‘Em Poker scratch-off ticket at a 7-Eleven store in Glen Cove in October 2020. When he scratched the ticket, it revealed a $1 million jackpot prize.
Wanting to remain anonymous, the victim contacted Argueta, his cousin, and asked her to claim the prize on his behalf. He offered to give her $50,000 for her troubles and she agreed.
According to investigators, Argueta mailed the winning ticket to the New York State Gaming Commission. Weeks later, she showed up at the victim’s house with paperwork saying the prize amount was only $20,000 and, after taxes, she had only received $13,436 in cash.
The victim finally realized he had been duped after coming across a press release from the New York State Lottery showing that Argueta had in fact claimed the $1 million prize. The release said she had pocketed a lump sum of $537,400 after taxes.
When the victim confronted Argueta about the theft, she threatened to take legal action, prosecutors said.
“This defendant thought she hit the jackpot when she passed off her cousin’s $1 million winning ‘scratch-off’ ticket as her own and claimed a lump sum payout of more than $500,000,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
“But her greedy actions also spelled the end of her luck, and now she will serve time in prison for her crime.”
Argueta faces between 1 ⅓ and four years in prison when she is sentenced in March 2023.
Prosecutors said the majority of the $537,400 lump sum prize money was located and returned to the victim.
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