Texas Lottery Executive Director Resigns Amid Ongoing Jackpot Investigations

The drama surrounding the lottery industry in Texas isn’t ready to die down just yet.

On Monday, the Texas Lottery Commission announced that its executive director, Ryan Mindell, had resigned, and though no reason was given, it’s easy to infer some connection to the cavalcade of controversies and investigations enveloping the state’s lottery operations over the past two months.

“Ryan Mindell notified the Texas Lottery Commission board of his resignation, effective today, April 21,” said TLC Chairman Robert G. Rivera in a statement, adding that Chief Financial Officer Sergio Rey will serve for now as acting deputy executive director. “The Commission board will consider its selection process for a new executive director at its next open meeting, scheduled for April 29.” 

Mindell had served in the role for only a year, following the abrupt resignation in 2024 of his predecessor, Gary Grief.

The same day Mindell resigned, lottery media outlet Lottery USA published an interview with an anonymous “insider” who suggested Grief and others with the Texas Lottery Commission had directly facilitated the group known as Rook TX’s effort to buy every possible combination for a $95 million April 2023 Lotto Texas drawing.

The 2025 Texas timeline

Following that profitable April 2023 scheme, and on the heels of it attracting significant media scrutiny in 2024, a new controversy emerged this February after a lottery player using the Jackpocket courier service purchased a ticket that scored an $83.5 million Texas Lotto jackpot.

A timeline of key events since:

• Feb. 18: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick launches a personal investigation of the retail outlet where Jackpocket purchased the ticket on the winning customer’s behalf.
• Feb. 21: Texas Lottery Commissioner Clark Smith resigns.
• Feb. 24: The Texas Lottery Commission, under Executive Director Mindell, makes a move to ban all lottery courier services. On the same day, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott orders the Texas Rangers to investigate both Texas Lotto wins.
• March 10: The Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers announces its support of a bill in the Texas Senate that bans the sale of tickets to those attempting to purchase all possible number combinations.
• March 26: NBC News airs an interview with the woman who won the February jackpot (and her lawyer) as her money continues to be held up pending the state’s investigations.
• April 3: The TLC holds a public hearing on the proposal to effectively ban courier services in the state.
• April 11: The Texas House passes a new budget plan that would defund the Texas Lottery.

Couriers have their say

The Lottery USA interview published this week implicated online ticket seller Lottery.com, an embattled company that has since moved into the sweepstakes gaming space, in the 2023 jackpot scheme.

The Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers, which includes Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, and Lotto.com, but not Lottery.com, issued a press release Monday insisting that couriers did not play a role in the April 2023 effort and that the couriers seek regulation in Texas.

“The TLC’s inconsistent policy and a lack of accountability have left Texans with many reasons to be concerned,” the CTLC wrote.

The release continued regarding the 2023 drawing: “Although the TLC itself provided the terminals used to print the tickets, the agency is advocating for a ban on lottery courier platforms, which had nothing to do with the scheme, are incapable of processing such a bulk purchase, and support a ban on bulk purchases.”

It is unclear how Mindell’s resignation will impact the ongoing investigations as well as the three major couriers’ hopes of being regulated, rather than banned, in Texas.