Woman pleads guilty to stealing lottery jackpot from LI relative, prosecutors say

A Texas woman pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than $500,000 from a Glen Cove relative’s $1 million winning scratch-off lottery ticket.

Iris Amador Argueta, 34, of Houston, pleaded guilty to one count of felony grand larceny after she claimed the prize for a relative and never delivered the money.

Glen Cove police and Nassau County police said a man bought a New York State Lottery $5 Hold 'Em Poker scratch-off ticket Oct. 28, 2020, at a 7-Eleven store at 194 Glen St. in Glen Cove and won the $1 million jackpot.

The man asked Argueta, his cousin, to claim the prize because he wanted to remain anonymous and promised her $50,000 from his winnings. She drove from Virginia, where she was living then, to retrieve the ticket and mailed it in November 2020 to the New York State Gaming Commission.

Argueta went to her cousin’s home weeks later, claiming lottery paperwork showed the prize was only $20,000, and turned over $13,436 in cash after she said the rest was claimed for taxes, prosecutors said.

The man who bought the winning ticket later found a news release on the state lottery website showing Argueta claimed the $1 million prize, resulting in $537,440 in a lump-sum payment after taxes. When he confronted Argueta, she said she didn’t have any additional winnings and she threatened legal action against him.

He reported the theft to Glen Cove police and prosecutors, leading to charges.

In May, Argueta turned over $317,857 in winnings from her bank account to the original buyer of the ticket. She faces between 1 and 1/3 years to 4 years in prison when she is scheduled to be sentenced March 15.

“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.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.