KEY POINTS:
The winner of a US$1 million ($1.30 million) lottery ticket may not be so lucky after all.
That is because he is also a convicted bank robber who is not supposed to be gambling.
The state probation commissioner's office has scheduled a hearing for December 7 in Barnstable Superior Court to determine whether Timothy Elliott, 55, violated his probation when he bought the US$10 ticket for the "$800 Million Spectacular" game at a supermarket, department spokeswoman Coria Holland said.
He has already collected the first of 20 annual US$50,000 cheques from Massachusetts' lottery commission.
Elliott was placed on five years' probation after pleading guilty in October last year to unarmed robbery for a January 2006 heist at a bank on Cape Cod.
Under terms of his probation, Elliott "may not gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted".
Lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said the lottery routinely checks the names of winners with the state Revenue Department to see if they owe taxes or child support.
In those cases, winnings go straight to the Revenue Department.
But in this case, it will be up to the court to determine what will happen with Elliott's winnings.
Said Elliott: "This is kind of new territory.
- AP
