Judge allows Elon Musk’s sweepstakes to continue despite “illegal lottery” accusations

The Philadelphia district attorney had launched a civil action against Musk’s PAC sweepstakes.

US.- Common pleas court judge Angelo Foglietta has said that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and PAC’s $1m sweepstakes competitions can continue. The office of Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner had filed a two-count civil action accusing them of creating a public nuisance and violating Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. 

The lawsuit relates to Musk’s announcement of an offer for new voter registrations through which he promised to give away $47 to any registered swing state voter who signed a petition “in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms”. As well as the $47 for all, Musk promised to give away a $1m cheque to one person every day.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not allow private lotteries, and giving money away to a single randomly selected entrant would probably violate that law. Musk’s lawyer Chris Gober has claimed that the winner of the $1m-a-day giveaway is not chosen at random but is instead selected based on who is considered to be a potentially good spokesperson for the Trump campaign. But that might not be a good enough defence.

Krasner argues that either the contest is a lottery, which would breach the state’s ban on non-licensed gambling, or it isn’t a lottery, in which case it would violate consumer protection laws. That’s because an attempt to defend the competition by showing that the winner was not chosen at random would be an admission to acting deceptively.

The Philadelphia district attorney office’s case reads: “America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens – and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) – to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million. That is a lottery.”

It’s not clear that Musk has made any payments in Pennsylvania, which is considered a crucial swing state.

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has unanimously voted to renew the Category 2 stand-alone casino licence of Wind Creek Bethlehem, operator of Wind Creek Bethlehem casino in Northampton County. The PGCB determined that Wind Creek Bethlehem had fulfilled the obligations under its previous licence and therefore qualified to have its licence renewed for an additional five-year period.

A public input hearing was held in July in the casino’s host municipality, the City of Bethlehem, where personnel of Wind Creek Bethlehem submitted exhibits and presented testimony on aspects of the facility’s operation since its last license renewal was granted. The public was also permitted to provide testimony about the casino and its impact on the community.