Pedro Quezada's good luck in being a Powerball winner in New Jersey has turned sour, as his ex-girlfriend is now suing him for a share of the jackpot.
The Dominican Republic native won the $338-million Powerball jackpot,
according to The Record. Last Friday, a state judge declined to freeze his assets pending the outcome of the lawsuit filed by Ines Sanchez.
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Quezada and Sanchez shared ownership of a grocery store and lived together for the past 10 years until she moved out of the home Quezada recently purchased in Clifton, N.J. She has a pending domestic violence charge against Quezada. She is the mother one of his children.
Sanchez's attorney Michael DeMarco argued that the lottery ticket was purchased partially with her money and she deserved a portion. DeMarco claimed that while Quezada claimed $152 million after taxes, most of it is already gone.
He told New Jersey Superior Court Chancery Judge Margaret Mary McVeigh that $57 million of the winnings was sent to the Dominican Republic, $5 million was given away, $300,000 was spent on the new home and $20 million can’t be located.
"I think we're kidding ourselves to say we'll ever see any of that money again," De Marco argued in hoping to get the funds frozen, according to The Record. "If he is permitted to continue this course of conduct, there will be nothing left to talk about."
Quezada's attorney Jonathan W. Wolfe told the judge that since the couple was not married and had no verbal or written agreement on the lottery winnings, she has no claim.
While she declined to dismiss the lawsuit, the judge sided with Quezada's attorney.
"Our Legislature has spoken. It specifically said, 'For these types of arrangements, relationships, to be upheld there needs to be a writing. You cannot go forward with these types of relationships without something in writing,'" she said.
WCBS-TV reported in April that Quezada had to pay nearly $30,000 in back child support for three of his five children from another relationship.
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