Court delays deadline in bizarre $12.8M lottery ticket dispute

A judge in Arizona has officially pressed pause on one of the strangest lottery disputes in recent memory. This pause gives a Scottsdale Circle K six more months to fight over a $12.8 million Arizona Lottery jackpot that was just days away from expiring.

Judge rules on Circle K request

The winning The Pick ticket was originally set to expire on May 23 if it wasn't claimed before then. However, the Circle K where the ticket was purchased asked the court for a temporary restraining order to prevent the ticket from expiring.

On Friday, May 15, 2026, a Maricopa County judge issued a temporary restraining order. By doing so, it extends the deadline to make a claim on these winnings by 180 days. This allows the legal battle to continue in the courts.

How the $12.8 million lawsuit started

This whole case revolves around a disputed jackpot-winning ticket sold at a Circle K near 56th Street and Bell Road in Scottsdale. The legal fight is over who owns the ticket.

As Lottery USA previously reported, a customer visited the Circle K on November 24, 2025. At that time, they requested multiple tickets for The Pick draw game. In total, the clerk allegedly printed $85 worth of tickets. However, the customer only paid for $60 worth before leaving the store.

The $25 worth of unsold tickets sat behind the counter overnight. As it turns out, one of those unsold tickets ended up matching all of the winning numbers drawn for that night's drawing, winning the $12.8 million jackpot, one of the largest jackpots for The Pick in recent Arizona Lottery history.

When the next morning came, store manager Robert Gawlitza allegedly heard that the jackpot-winning ticket had been sold at this store. He allegedly went through the unsold tickets and found out that one of them was the jackpot winner.

According to the lawsuit, Gawlitza then clocked out, removed his Circle K uniform, and had another employee ring him up for the remaining tickets, including the winning one.

Gawlitza never claimed the jackpot. Instead, Circle K confiscated the ticket and filed its lawsuit. They claim Arizona Lottery rules state that overprinted tickets that aren’t purchased by customers belong to the retailer, but the store manager is claiming they bought the tickets.

'Nowhere near' a decision

During the hearing on Friday, the judge was adamant in pointing out that the court is still a long way away from deciding who gets the jackpot.

According to court documents, the judge said the court is “nowhere near” deciding who should receive the jackpot. The judge stated the case remains in a “waiting mode” while Circle K works to identify and serve key parties.

The Circle K is trying to identify the original customer who bought the first batch of tickets. They are also trying to obtain Bank of America records to help identify this mystery customer, who is currently listed in court documents as Jane or John Doe. For now, the $12.8 million ticket remains locked away while the legal drama continues.

Enjoy playing the Arizona Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.