Jose Luis Betancourt hit the Texas Lotto before Christmas. Won $7.5 million. But if Texas works like a lot of other states, that’s before taxes and payable over something like 20 years. The cash value today — what the Lottery Commission would cut a check for — was probably something south of $2 million. Not bad. Not Bill Gates money, but a nice little grubstake.
So, the federal government says, Jose Luis Betancourt went out and bought some cocaine. About 3.5 pounds of it. The feds found it hidden in his dishwasher and pantry. Presumably he was out to sell the stuff — at a profit — because that’s more cocaine than one would normally consume at one sitting, even for a big party.
Betancourt was found to be a flight risk, and is being held without bail.
