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Powerball winner Edwin Castro is keeping his record-breaking $2.04 billion prize after a California judge dismissed a lawsuit from a jealous rival who claimed the ticket was stolen from him.

A Los Angeles County judge overturned a lawsuit filed by Jose Riviera last month, citing a lack of physical evidence — a literal ticket — that court documents had seen TMZ Condition.

The lottery saga began when 43-year-old Jose Rivera claimed his winning ticket was stolen in February 2023, which he allegedly purchased the day before the drawing.

Rivera, along with the California State Lottery Commission, sued Castro over the prize, which was the largest in U.S. history.

Rivera defended his status as the alleged rightful owner and accused his former landlord “Reggie” – Urachi F. Romero – of taking the ticket from him and passing it to Castro, according to court documents seen by him The Independent.

Romero was captured on video saying, “I saw Jose Rivera with that ticket…he showed it to me,” it continued The New York Post.

But it’s unclear how the ticket was passed to Castro, the plaintiff said.

Castro’s lawyer, David De Paoli, responded by claiming he saw his client buying the ticket. “I have personally viewed the CCTV footage and it is crystal clear… Edwin Castro bought the winning Powerball ticket without question,” he said The New York Post reported about him.

But the uproar has finally come to an end, as a judge ruled: “Players are solely responsible for securing their tickets against theft, loss, damage or destruction.”

The judge added that if the plaintiff believed his ticket was stolen, he should have contacted police officers, court documents show. The final ruling supports the preliminary decision from August 2024.

Since Rivera has not filed an answer, the case is now closed.

However, the ongoing legal challenge did not stop Castro from spending his winnings.

So far he has bought a luxury house for himself, one for his parents and several sports cars, it is said The Daily Mail.

Terry Fahn, Castro’s representative, said The Independent that they would not comment on the dismissal.

The Independent contacted Rivera’s attorney and the California State Lottery Commission for comment.