||| Chicago Tribune |||
A 68-year-old woman from Villa Park, Illinois who is known as a longtime anti-gambling crusader won a substantial prize from a sweepstake hosted by a gambling cafe.
The ironic prize wasn't accidental, anti-gambling advocate Kathy Gilroy won the $25,000 jackpot after purposefully entering the drawing for free at Stella's Cafe.
Gilroy is known for shutting down a highly anticipated Queen of Hearts game in August 2016 conducted by the VFW in Morris. Just hours before the drawing for the $1.6 million jackpot, Gilroy went to the local authorities who suspended the drawing.
Jerry Peterson is the quartermaster for VFW Post 6049 and he said the city decided the lack of a license was enough to suspend the event, despite there being no requirement for one.
"They said that as of 2015 it's required to have a license from the city, well our city doesn't require a license for a raffle," Peterson explained. "I went and talked to the mayor and the gaming board and agreed the city needs to implement a gaming license so we said let's just suspend it for now."
After shutting down a sweepstake just one year prior, Gilroy won one of her own. Morris VFW Commander Jerry Zeborowski said he was confused by the fact Gilroy had entered and won a sweepstake.
"It’s ironic that someone who’s anti-gambling would enter something like that," Zeborowski said. "That’s a little hypocrisy there, don’t you think?"
Gilroy is a supplemental health insurance salesperson for Medicare and she says she just shrug's off the negative comments she has gotten over the years, including when she halted a raffle to raise money for needy college students.
She says she opted for the $25,000 cash prize instead of a new car at the drawing and has already spent some of the money on stocks. Maybe she should donate some money to those needy college kids she screwed over?
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