Man suing Edwin Castro over $2B Powerball ticket loses 2 lawyers in a week

The man who claims to have purchased the winning ticket for the historic $2 billion Powerball ticket only to have it “stolen” and cashed in by Edwin Castro has lost two lawyers in just a week.

Jose Rivera is suing Castro and his former landlord, Urachi “Reggie” Romero, over the prize money, alleging that Romero stole his golden ticket and Castro claimed it as his when he went to the California State Lottery Commission.

Rivera, however, has provided no explanation on how the lucky ticket went from Romero’s hands to Castro’s, and two attorneys he had hired to represent him in the lawsuit have already deserted the case, according to the US Sun.

His attorney R. Brian Kramer filed papers to relieve himself from the suit on July 12, court documents obtained by the outlet show.

A week later, his other attorney, Estela Richeda, told the Superior Court that she, too, will no longer be a part of the court battle.

Rivera has not been able to find a connection between Romero and Castro, and the latter’s lawyer told the Sun that the suit is baseless.

“There is no basis in fact for the suit at all. At this point, we’re just working on service but there are huge problems with the complaint,” attorney David De Paoli said. “At some point, it is going to become clear that Edwin G. Castro is the legitimate owner of the ticket.”

He added that Rivera was “not going to get a dollar.”

Rivera claims to have bought the lotto ticket from Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California — the same location as Castro — a day before the record-breaking drawing. He said Romero stole his ticket from the home where they were both living and filed a lawsuit against both men in April.

Romero denies stealing the ticket but told The Post that he believes Rivera did in fact purchase the winning numbers as he said he said it with his own eyes.

He said he doesn’t know how it ended up in Castro’s possession, but questioned why, if he had taken the ticket, he wouldn’t have kept the fortune for himself.

The California Lottery has maintained that it is confident Castro is the rightful winner of the large fortune.