Orange County man says he won $44 million Powerball jackpot, but hasn't received money

An Orange County man claims to be the winner of a $44 million Powerball jackpot, but weeks after the drawing, he says he still hasn't seen a cent.

Jerry enjoys playing the lottery often.

"Fantasy 5, Powerball... Super Lotto, Mega... I play all the games," he said.

Ahead of the Powerball drawing on Aug. 19, he walked into his neighborhood Ralphs to buy lottery tickets using some of his favorite numbers. All five numbers, including the number 10 he chose as the Powerball, were drawn.

"It was exciting in a really subtle way because you don't anticipate ever hitting all six. Six numbers on the Powerball is... the odds are you'll die before.. You'll walk out and get hit by lightning before you win that one," he said.

But more than nine weeks later, Jerry is still waiting for the payout.

"The process is really horrible for a winner of a big... any big lotto winnings," he said. "They won't tell you by this date, you'll get the funds. They won't tell you that. They leave it open-ended so you're sitting, waiting daily... (hoping you're going to get these funds.)"

Carolyn Becker with the California State Lottery, said the fastest a winner might get paid is four weeks, but that doesn't happen very often.

The California State Lottery would not comment specifically on Jerry's claim, but said any person claiming to have a winning ticket has to go through a lengthy vetting process. That includes an investigation by their law enforcement team and cross checking the alleged winner doesn't owe the state any money in taxes or child support.

Lottery officials say the goal is to have each case done in 6-8 weeks, but it could take longer.

"California Lottery processes, believe it or not, 10,000 plus claims a month, so we want to manage the expectations of our winners," Becker added.

Jerry remains hopeful his winnings from that $44 million jackpot will be deposited into this bank account sooner than later so he can start enjoying the life-changing amount of money.