California lottery accidentally releases $12M winner’s address: ‘This has never happened’

The California Lottery shared the address of a $12 million lottery winner … calling the big mistake an accident.

A lucky winner bought a SuperLotto Plus ticket at a King Wine & Liquor at 2346 Fruitridge Road in Sacramento in November and won $12 million.

But the initial release of information included the winner’s personal address instead of the store’s address.

The California Lottery “regrets” the mistake, they said, which could raise privacy concerns with the winner.

“Protecting player privacy and ensuring accurate information are top priorities for the California Lottery,” they said in a statement to the California Post. “This has never happened for the California Lottery, and we are reviewing our protocols to ensure this doesn’t occur again. We regret the mistake and appreciate the public’s understanding as we work quickly to ensure all information shared is accurate and secure.”

The agency said that the email containing the winner’s personal address went out to about 800 media outlets. They told the California Post that the information only went out to media outlets and they “moved quickly to contact the newsrooms that received the information.”

The winner, Raul Servellon de Leo, was identified last week in the email. His address was not meant to be shared in the correspondence meant to identify recent major lottery winners.

He spoke to the California Post on Tuesday, expressing concern about the reveal of his home address.

Servellon, who is a plumber, said he’s been thinking about moving and has already bought a new house in the area. He said he was worried “someone could do something to my babies,” and is concerned “crazy people” could endanger his family.

But he hasn’t seen any unusual activity outside his current residence, which he is renting and will leave in a few months for his new house. Servellon said he’s contemplating legal action against the lottery agency, who called him and apologized for revealing his home address.

Servellon says he’s a normal lottery ticket buyer and was thrilled about the win. He says he’s invested most his winnings.

Under California law, winners must be identified by their full name. Their address is not mandated to be shared.

The California Post found that the winner lives in Sacramento.

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