The almost 10 year old dispute over a lottery ticket win worth $5 is now going to be settled in court for a cost of $1 million.

It all started in 1997 when Tom Smith from Indianapolis bought a lottery ticket from Indiana's Hoosier Lottery awarding him $5. He however didn't claim his winnings until months later and was then informed that he no longer could as it had expired.

Since no expiration date was printed on the ticket he sued the lottery in court, which turned into a class-action law suit that has so far cost the lottery over $500,000 in legal fees.

The case is now however going to be settled, pending approval of a judge, with Smith being awarded $15,000 in damages and another $600,000 going into a fund to settle similar claims.

Not a bad payday for a $5 lottery ticket.

- 2006-06-24