Fight over $12.8M lottery ticket takes another unexpected turn

A $12.8 million Arizona Lottery The Pick jackpot is still sitting unclaimed months after the winning lottery numbers were drawn, and the list of people who believe they own the ticket keeps getting longer. What began as a dispute between a Circle K and its store manager has now expanded to include new potential claimants, leaving an Arizona judge to untangle one of the strangest lottery ownership battles in recent memory.

Original lawsuit

This whole case revolves around a disputed jackpot-winning ticket sold at a Circle K located at 5601 E. Bell Road, in Scottsdale, Phoenix. The legal fight is over who owns the ticket.

As Lottery USA previously reported, a customer visited the Circle K near 56th Street and Bell Road in Scottsdale on November 24, 2025. The clerk printed $85 worth of The Pick tickets, but they only paid for $60 worth before leaving the other tickets at the store.

One of those unsold tickets ended up matching all of the winning numbers drawn that night to win the $12.8 million jackpot. The next morning, the store manager, Robert Gawlitza, allegedly heard that the jackpot-winning ticket had been sold at this store.

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

Gawlitza never got a chance to claim the prize, as the Circle K confiscated it and filed the lawsuit. Both parties are claiming that they are the owner of the ticket.

The judge grants a delay

The winning ticket was set to expire on May 23. However, Circle K asked the judge to grant 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.

The lawsuit gets messier

As if this lawsuit isn't messy enough, with the judge previously saying he was “nowhere near” a decision. Now, we have two new parties added into the mix.

A recent filing with the court identified two more people with possible claims to the jackpot. One is the Maricopa County resident who bought the $60 worth of The Pick tickets, but left behind the jackpot-winning ticket in the Circle K. The legal name was printed in the filing, but she asked the Phoenix New Times to be identified as Anna Kim.

The other person mentioned in the filing is Marline Ybarra, an employee of the Circle K where the winning ticket was sold. Ybarra is the employee who “sold” the ticket to the store manager the morning after the drawing.

Kim did not say whether she will file a claim for the ticket. Right now, she is not listed as a party in the lawsuit. The judge did issue a subpoena in May to identify the person who originally bought the tickets, so that may be why her name is listed.

However, Ybarra is staking a claim to the winnings and is now listed as a defendant in the case. Even more interesting is that Ybarra is being represented by the same attorney as Gawlitza, the Circle K manager. It's not clear whether Ybarra and Gawlitza came to some kind of agreement regarding the ticket's winnings.

More twists and turns

Things get even more complicated, as the new filing adds a few more details of the incident. The new filing states that some of the tickets fell behind the printer. This makes you wonder if Kim even knew the tickets had been printed.

In addition, Kim had asked to rerun numbers from previously purchased tickets. However, it's not known if the winning ticket had been one of those requested reruns. If so, Kim could state that her numbers won the prize, and she was never given them.

The complaint continues, saying Ybarra “discovered” the unsold tickets and “placed them beside the register.” Then the next day, she sold the winning ticket to Gawlitza. Ybarra also signed the back of the ticket, theoretically making it official. However, the Circle K did confiscate it.

Now it's up to the county judge to determine who the rightful owner is of the winning ticket. The Circle K has not asked the judge to declare them the owner, but just to determine a rightful owner.

For legal purposes, Arizona lottery regulations state that printed but unsold tickets represent a legal wager because vendors like Circle K pay the Arizona Lottery for every ticket they print, regardless of whether the sale is made or not.

Rules also state that a printed but unsold winning ticket belongs to the vendor. However, Gawlitza did come in and pay for the following day. Can he do that, or was it too late and Circle K already owned it? The judge will determine.

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