Former Texas Lottery Executive Director Gary Grief appeared in a Travis County courtroom Friday morning as the criminal case stemming from the controversial 2023 Lotto Texas jackpot moves forward.
Grief appeared alongside his attorney before District Judge Dayna Blazey in the 167th District Court. Prosecutors and attorneys representing the entity formerly known as the Texas Lottery Commission were also present.
Court records show Grief waived formal magistration Friday. Another hearing concerning his personal-recognizance bond was set for October 16.
Shortly after Friday’s proceedings, Travis County District Attorney José Garza formally announced that a grand jury had indicted both Grief and the now-defunct Texas Lottery Commission for abuse of official capacity.
The indictments were handed down April 21.
According to Garza’s office, the charges stem from the April 22, 2023, Lotto Texas drawing and allege that the commission, along with high-level management officials Ed Rogers and Clay Kidd, intentionally and knowingly misused government resources.
The DA’s office alleges the conduct was authorized by Grief, who was serving as the commission’s executive director at the time.
The indictment concerns the drawing in which a New Jersey-based lottery purchasing operation acquired nearly every possible number combination and won a $95 million jackpot.
Grief faces a first-degree felony charge of abuse of official capacity involving $300,000 or more.
“Our office will hold accountable powerful actors who violate our state laws,” Garza said Friday. “We thank the grand jury members who heard the evidence and the law and decided that their conduct was unlawful.”
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office said its Public Integrity and Complex Crimes Division received the case from the Texas Department of Public Safety in February.
The Texas Lottery Commission itself no longer exists. State lawmakers abolished the agency last year following mounting scrutiny of the lottery and transferred oversight of its operations to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
During Friday’s hearing, Blazey appeared unaware that the commission had been dissolved, as attorneys discussed the status of the entity and its representation in the criminal proceedings.
The cases against Grief and the former commission are being prosecuted by the Travis County District Attorney’s Public Integrity and Complex Crimes Division.
