Woman apologizes for false lottery ticket claims

CLEVELAND -- A woman who told police she bought and lost a lottery ticket worth $162 million all but admitted Thursday she made it up, saying tearfully: "I wanted to win so bad for my kids and my family. I apologize."\nElecia Battle, 40, said she is dropping her lawsuit over the Mega Millions jackpot that was awarded Tuesday to 34-year-old Rebecca Jemison.\nBattle apologized to her husband, Jemison and her lawyer.\n"I'm not a bad person. I'm really not," she said. "Everyone has a past."\nDays after the Dec. 30 drawing, Battle filed a police report saying she lost the winning ticket, possibly when she dropped her purse outside a convenience store.\nPolice in suburban South Euclid, where the winning ticket was sold, said Battle will probably be charged with filing a false police report -- a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.\n"I think what she's saying is what everybody else is inferring -- that she's lying," Lt. Kevin Nietert said.\nBattle said she wanted to use the money to help her family and recently laid-off Cleveland police officers.\n"I wanted to win," she said with a shaky voice. "The numbers were so overwhelming. I did buy a ticket, and I lost it."\nWhen she was asked directly if she lied, Battle's lawyer, Sheldon Starke, refused to give her answer.\nThe Ohio Lottery said it knew the truth all along. Jemison provided another ticket bought at the same time and place and had a ticket that showed she had played the same numbers in the prior drawing, the lottery said.\nBattle has a criminal record that includes assault on a drug store clerk and misuse of another person's credit card.