Texas Lottery executive director resigns following investigation of recent winning tickets

Texas Lottery executive director resigns

Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell's resignation comes after questions about the legitimacy of the Texas Lottery earlier this year.

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Lottery executive director announced his resignation on Monday, April 21, amid scrutiny from state officials.

Executive director Ryan Mindell's resignation comes after questions about the legitimacy of the Texas Lottery earlier this year.

The resignation comes almost exactly one year after Mindell was promoted to the position.

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What they're saying:

The Texas Lottery released this statement:

"Ryan Mindell notified the Texas Lottery Commission board of his resignation, effective today, April 21. Sergio Rey, the agency’s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed Acting Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Lottery. The Commission board will consider its selection process for a new executive director at its next open meeting, scheduled for April 29."

On April 22, the Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers released a statement on Mindell's resignation:

"Ryan Mindell was a part of the Texas Lottery Commission for years, during which he repeatedly denied the agency had regulatory authority over couriers, despite couriers’ persistent requests to be regulated, just as we are in other states. Under tough questioning by elected officials, he abruptly changed his mind and decided lottery couriers, which have operated legally in Texas since 2019, be banned.

Our companies have always maintained a transparent and professional relationship with the TLC, but under Mindell’s watch, the agency inaccurately and unfairly allowed lottery couriers to become the scapegoat for its own questionable activities, including providing lottery terminals to an international syndicate that gamed the system and won a $95 million jackpot in April 2023. Members of the Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers played no role in that scheme and oppose such bulk purchases.

Mindell’s departure provides an opportunity to reconsider the agency’s politically motivated decisions regarding lottery couriers and restart good faith collaboration between our companies and the TLC to establish a regulatory framework that protects the integrity of the Texas Lottery while also allowing our millions of Texas customers to continue to safely and conveniently order lottery tickets."

Texas Lottery investigation

The backstory:

In February, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick conducted his own investigation into the Texas Lottery. This came after a winning $83.5 million lottery ticket was bought at a retail store in North Austin.

It was not the first time someone walked away a winner after buying a ticket at the Winners Corner TX LLC store on Rockwood Lane.

The store has been on top for the number of winning tickets sold, including in December 2024 when someone bought a winning lottery ticket of $2 million.

Austin winning lottery ticket raises questions

A lot of zero's have been tacked onto one person's net worth after winning a $83.5 million Texas Lottery ticket. But it has created a lot of questions about the legitimacy of the lottery system.

The business is considered a lottery courier, which allows Texans to buy tickets online, then a courier will send a representative to physically purchase the ticket in person at one of the lottery retailers.

Although many question the ethics and legality of how these lotto companies work, the most recent win was concerning to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

On Tuesday, Patrick went to investigate Winner's Corner in person.

"Do you not see an issue where the public might lose confidence if the courier service somehow happened at this one location in the entire state of Texas sold an $83 million winning ticket, and they also own the location that printed the ticket?" Patrick asked the store employee.

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