ALHAMBRA — The declared winner of the record-breaking November $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won a round in court this week against a man who sued, claiming the winner had stolen the ticket.
The judge found that a process server for the man who sued, plaintiff Jose Rivera, insisting the prize is his, did not provide proper service when the plaintiff’s court papers were instead presented to the defendant’s father, whose name is identical except for the middle initial. In a ruling Wednesday, Judge William A. Crowfoot found that the person served with Rivera’s complaint was actually Edwin G. Castro’s father, Edwin H. Castro, who was not authorized to receive such papers on his son’s behalf. The judge granted Edwin G. Castro’s motion to quash service.
“I told the process server that he was serving the wrong Edwin Castro, but he displayed little concern,” the elder Castro says.