EYE IN THE SKY
Edwin Castro fortifies $3.8m Malibu mansion with a drone as Powerball winner beefs up security & ticket fight rumbles on
Edwin Castro is spending big on his security and his legal defense
POWERBALL billionaire Edwin Castro has beefed up security at his $3.8 million Malibu estate with drone surveillance.
Castro, 32, was pictured on Monday reversing out of his Malibu mansion while behind the wheel of a white and black-stripped Porsche 911.
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The Powerball winner's heavy security personnel hovered nearby, loading several equipment bags into a black SUV.
Castro's around-the-block private security team has been on high alert since April after a home near his $25 million Hollywood Hills bachelor pad was burglarized.
The late-night break-in occurred after three suspects smashed several glass windows of a mansion in the high-end neighborhood before entering the home, according to local CW affiliate KTLA.
It's unclear if the suspects have been arrested.
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Meanwhile, Castro's security detail surveyed his Malibu Beach neighborhood, flying drones up and down the roads for any activities.
Castro is still embroiled in a legal dispute over his $2 billion Powerball lottery ticket.
LEGAL TUSSLE
Rival Jose Rivera, who sued Castro in February 2023, claiming to be the rightful owner of the prized ticket, has continued his stubborn fight in court despite being charged with filing a false police report.
Pasadena police investigated Rivera's claims about the Powerball ticket and determined that he wasted the department's time and resources on frivolous reports.
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Rivera, 49, pleaded not guilty to filing a false police report.
Despite facing criminal charges in a separate matter, Rivera has refused to withdraw his lawsuit against Castro.
Powerball winner Edwin Castro purchases $3.8m Malibu getaway pad bought after win under mystery company
Several attorneys have either withdrawn from the case or have been fired by Rivera after clashing with the plaintiff in court.
Rivera is now being represented by John Michael Flanagan, whose previous clients include Michael Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murry.
Meanwhile, Castro has hired veteran attorney Michael Freedman of The Freedman Firm.
Freedman's most recent high-profile client includes Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
The high-profile attorney has also represented disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, who was accused of sexually assaulting a teen at the Playboy Mansion in 1975.
Freedman is still representing shamed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in his California case after his New York conviction was overturned.
A hearing regarding Rivera's lawsuit is scheduled for next month.
Edwin Castro's Powerball win timeline
When and why Castro got sued
On November 7, 2022, Castro bought a winning Powerball ticket at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, California.
The grand prize was $2.04 billion at the time - the largest in US history.
On February 14, 2023, the California Lottery announced Castro's win, and he took home a one-time lump sum payment of $997.6 million.
Castro's identity was released, but little information was known about the former mechanic.
In May 2023, Jose Rivera, a gardener from California, filed a lawsuit claiming that he was the rightful owner of the golden ticket.
Rivera claimed his former landlord Urachi F. Romero stole the ticket before it ended up in Castro's hands.
Since filing the suit, Rivera has been charged with filing a false police report and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by a judge.
However, Rivera pleaded not guilty to the charge, passed the evaluation, and continues to defend his story.
'I DO BELIEVE HIM'
As Rivera's lawsuit continues to drag along in the Los Angeles court system, his family has come to his defense and believes his story.
Rivera has stood by his claims that he actually purchased the winning ticket, but his former landlord, Urachi F. Romero, stole it and handed it to Castro.
Romero, who was named a co-conspirator in the lawsuit, has supported Rivera in his legal fight.
He claims his former tenant showed him the ticket with the winning numbers before the drawing was announced in November 2022.
Romero insisted that Rivera was the true winner and somehow lost the ticket.
The U.S. Sun exclusively spoke to Rivera's family, who said the gardener should continue his fight against Castro.
Rivera's sister, who asked not to be named, told The U.S Sun in early June, "If he has the energy, go ahead.
"Me... I don't have the energy. But I believe he's the true winner. He makes sense.
"Like he said, [the ticket] got stolen. I do believe him because he's my brother, and he speaks the truth.
"But let's see what happens. I don't get too involved with his business. I'm very reserved.
"I just listen to him. I'm his older sister, and when he needs help, I'm here for him. He talks to me about it."
He had told me that he had bought the ticket.
Jose Rivera's estranged wife
Rivera's estranged wife, who wished to remain anonymous, also believes her former lover's story, "When this whole thing with his ticket happened, we were not separated yet.
"We were having problems but he was still coming every now and then to the house."
The woman, who has two children with Rivera after being together for more than 25 years, added, "So, that day that he bought the ticket, he left from my place.
"It was raining that day, I remember it. And he had told me that he had bought a ticket, but he never showed it to me or anything.
"Because that day, he didn't come back, he stayed at the place where he was staying.
"But he told me he had specific numbers because they were all based on his sister and his brothers and his cousins and his dad."
When asked if she remembered Rivera searching for the ticket, the woman confirmed, "Yeah. He kept calling me, calling me, that he needed to [visit] the house that he had been there.
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"But he wouldn't be all over the house or anything like that. So, like I told him, 'I don't have the ticket here.'
"I really hope that everything comes out, you know, for the best."
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