Lottery check not yet in the mail
The check is in the mail. Seriously ... it really is. Somewhere.
Or at least it was. That’s the sum of what Therese and Jeff Johnson say they have gotten from the Illinois Lottery since June, when the Yorkville couple found out she was a $50,000 winner.
The scratch-off ticket was purchased by Jeff in his wife’s name at the Citgo station in Sandwich. As the cook at the Bristol Tap, Jeff hits Art’s Supermarket bright and early every morning for meat and other supplies for the pub known for its superior burgers. And after his daily shopping duties, he trots next door to the gas station where he’s been buying $110 worth of tickets weekly for a while now.
Jeff calls it “a family thing” but Therese Johnson, who’s been playing for 22 years, admits she’s the Lottery fan. In the past, the couple scored a couple of decent hits — but nothing like this cool 50-grand.
But after filing the claim on June 25 to collect their windfall — $35,000.70 after taxes — they have not yet seen any of the money.
Therese Johnson, who works behind the bar at the Bristol Tap, immediately drove to the Illinois Lottery regional office in Rockford to file her claim, where she was told amounts over $25,000 have to be issued out of Springfield.
Expect a wait of about a month, she was told. But five weeks passed. Then six. And seven.
Each week, Jeff Johnson said, he called the state lottery office, even offering to drive to Springfield to pick up the money himself.
Be patient, the folks there assured them. The check was issued July 28 ... it’s really in the mail.
Checks that size, Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang said come from the state comptroller’s office, and “they’ve done it that way for years.”
“This is unusual,” especially for a check that substantial, he admitted of the Johnson snafu.
Lang also said winners have the option of receiving their money through direct deposit, although only about half choose that route. But Therese didn’t have her checkbook with her when she showed up in Rockford, so she couldn’t give them the banking information needed.
She remembers having an “uneasy feeling” when informed the only other option was through the mail.
The good news: A couple days ago, she finally received the forms needed to begin the process all over again.
It will take at least a month for the new check to be issued. In the meantime, Jeff Johnson says, they’ll continue practicing patience.
The couple said they’ll use the winnings to pay off bills.
When they returned the paperwork for a new check, also included was a self addressed envelope, stamped and ready to go for overnight delivery back to them. shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday, FBI spokeswoman Joan Hyde said.
In both incidents, the robber displayed no weapon but showed the teller a note and verbally demanded money, Hyde said.
After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the robber left the bank on foot. him since declaring him a “specially designated terrorist” in August 1995, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. It says the restrictions were imposed without a trial or administrative hearing.
Salah, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was imprisoned in Israel for 4½ years after police searched his East Jerusalem hotel room and found $95,000 in cash they said was to bankroll terrorism. In 2004, Salah and two others were charged with an extensive racketeering scheme to fund Hamas.
A jury in a high-profile 2007 trial acquitted Salah of providing financial, logistical and other support for Hamas in its long-standing conflict with Israel.
But the jury convicted him of obstruction for lying under oath on a questionnaire in a lawsuit over the fatal Hamas shooting of American teenager David Boim in Israel in 1996. Salah was sentenced in July 2007 to 21 months in federal prison and fined $25,000.
Salah claims in his lawsuit that he’s the only person in the United States with such a terrorist designation, which blocks all his assets and prevents him from obtaining food, clothing and lodging. He also says the designation makes it illegal for U.S. citizens or entities to do business with him, including offering medical services.
But a Treasury official said the Office of Foreign Assets Control has so designated a number of people in the country for providing support or acting on behalf of terrorist organizations.
Salah at various times has been granted licenses authorizing him to get a job, open bank accounts and pay for essential goods and services, but the limitations have made finding a bank and job nearly impossible, according to the lawsuit.
The treasury official said he could not comment on the specifics of the suit, but the designation prohibits most transactions.