News writer; Opinion columnist
A great philosopher once said that behind every great fortune is a great crime, and nowhere is that more true than in the lottery. From murder to fraud to tax evasion, the riches promised by a small piece of paper with the correct numbers or symbols can drive people to commit unspeakable crimes.
One enterprising group of criminals thought they could guarantee themselves a jackpot by stealing winning lottery tickets and attempting to cash them in. However, all too often, the only prize they collected was a pair of handcuffs, a bed in jail, and a few felony charges.
These are the true stories of people who attempted to collect big fortunes with stolen lottery tickets.
Employee of the month
November 2024 was an eventful month for Arthurica Jackson. It started when she landed a new job at the QuickPump gas station and convenience store in Hearne, Texas. A few days later, she cashed in a winning lottery ticket worth $5 million. Finally, at the end of the month, she was arrested and charged with several major felonies.
Jackson's short, strange journey started with a new job as a cashier and clerk at the QuickPump gas station, which was also a lottery retailer. Less than a week after picking up her first shift, she walked into the Texas Lottery Commission offices in Austin with a winning scratch-off ticket.
She told officials that she had purchased a $50 Luxe instant win ticket at the QuickPump where she worked and uncovered the $5 million jackpot symbol. Jackson was in a hurry to get paid, but before writing her a check, lottery officials told her they needed to verify her win.
During their investigation, officials spoke with Ahamed Shaik, the owner of the store where Jackson worked. He provided them with surveillance footage showing that over her four days working as a clerk, she had stolen several lottery tickets. The cameras revealed that she removed them from the display case, scratched off the barcode, and scanned it with the store's lottery machine.
When she found the winning ticket, she scanned it a second time at the cash register and walked out of the store without paying for it.
After reviewing the footage, Hearne police arrested Jackson and charged her with Claim Lottery Prize Fraud of over $10,000 and Theft of Property of over $300,000. She was released on a $300,000 bond and is currently awaiting trial.
Of course, the greatest irony to Jackson's journey is that if she had just paid for her tickets after finding out she had a winner, she'd be a multi-millionaire today. But, as they say, good help is hard to find.
From winner to inmate
There are two photographs that will define Jeremiah Ehlers' life. The first shows him in a classic lottery winner pose, grinning and standing in front of a backdrop that reads “Winner, Nebraska Lottery” while holding an oversized check for $300,000.
The second photo, taken just months later, shows Ehlers in a decidedly less triumphant pose. Taken from the shoulders up and with no smile, it's a mug shot taken after he was arrested for lottery fraud.
Ehlers' misadventure began on April 12, 2024, when he walked into Nebraska Lottery Headquarters in Lincoln to cash in a winning ticket. He told officials that he had purchased a $30 Diamond Dollars scratch-off ticket worth $300,000.
The ticket was valid, so the lottery office went through the usual procedures, including issuing a press release and taking a “winner's photograph” with a fake check. After accounting for taxes, Ehlers was then given a real check for $213,000.
However, before he could enjoy his winnings, a slight complication arose; Ehlers was arrested. His luck took a turn for the worse because of a man named Marty Leidal. Ehlers worked as a store manager at the Rapid Stop convenience store in Greeley, Nebraska, and Leidal was his district manager.
Ledial suspected that Ehlers had been stealing lottery tickets without paying for them since October 2023. In April 2024, he reviewed the store's surveillance cameras and watched Ehlers take tickets, scan their barcodes, and pocket the winners.
Ledial turned his findings over to the authorities, and they launched their own investigation. Deputy State Sheriff Bradley Burleigh interviewed Karen Quijada, Ehlers' former coworker, who told him that the store manager gave her a personal check for $1,530 and explained that it was to cover some money that had gone missing from the store.
Shortly afterward, Deputy Burleigh obtained a warrant that allowed him to seize Ehlers' lottery winnings directly from his bank account. He found that in the short time he had the money, Ehlers spent almost $85,000 settling debts and buying new cars.
Ehlers was arrested on January 3, 2025, and released on $5,000 bail.
International man of mystery
While stories of clerks stealing winning tickets are extremely common, the safeguards and protections that most lotteries use to track tickets usually result in their arrest and the return of money to a rightful winner.
However, one clever thief used some quick thinking and his passport to escape from the long arm of the law.
This sad story starts with a Dallas, Texas, resident and lottery player named Willis. In 2009, Willis brought a Mega Millions lottery ticket to the Lucky Food convenience store in Grand Prairie, Texas, where he asked the store clerk, Pankaj Joshi, to scan it for him.
Joshi told him that the ticket was only worth $2 and handed him the meager cash prize directly.
After Willis left the store, Joshi immediately signed the back of the ticket and took it to the state lottery offices, where he redeemed it for its real value, $1,000,000. By the time Willis realized he had been scammed, the Texas Lottery Commission essentially told him, Tough luck.
When he took his complaint to the Texas Lottery Commission, they were unsympathetic, according to Sean E Breen, his attorney:
The Lottery Commission for the first time today informed Mr. Willis that they consider the lottery agent who stole his ticket to be the winner of the lottery … because the clerk who stole the ticket — the agent of the lottery — signed the back of it.
However, Willis wouldn't be denied his rightful fortune, and he filed a lawsuit against the commission and a criminal case against Joshi. Police searched for the clerk, but he fled the country immediately after collecting Willis's money, which amounted to approximately $750,000 after accounting for taxes.
Joshi remains on the run, and prosecutors believe that he took the money and returned to his native Nepal. INTERPOL, the international police force, currently has an arrest warrant sworn out against him. Lone Star Fugitive Task Force Commander Hector Gomez explained:
Joshi was in transit to various countries, I assume, in an effort to return to Nepal, and the last place that we are aware that he landed was Bangkok, Thailand. Pankaj Joshi, if convicted, is looking at a maximum penalty of 20 years in the Texas Department of Corrections.
Despite Joshi's flight from justice, Willis refused to give up on collecting his rightful prize. While the Texas Lottery Commission seized $395,000 that remained in Joshi's American bank account, they refused to give that money to Willis.
Willis filed a lawsuit against the commission, and in February 2010, a Travis County judge awarded him the recovered money. Willis' attorney, Randy Howry, at a November hearing in front of the Lottery Commission, stated:
Mr. Willis won a million dollars in the Texas Lottery, and after taxes are taken out, that means he's entitled to receive $750,000. We intend to fight for every dollar that is rightfully his.
Nine-time winner to twenty-time loser
The only thing better than winning the lottery once is winning it again. However, whether it's tax fraud or theft, we've noticed a disturbing pattern of players winning multiple times due to criminal activity rather than good fortune.
Samantha Young of Lakeland, Florida, is just the latest player to watch her winning streak go bad when it turned out that her nine winning lottery tickets weren't the result of her great luck.
Surveillance footage from a convenience store clearly shows her reaching over the counter and stealing 48 instant-win lottery tickets worth approximately $1,500. She then scratched them off and attempted to cash in winners worth a total of $480.
Because Young wore a full-face covering when she stole the tickets, police couldn't identify her based on the store's surveillance footage. However, it was her impatience that ultimately led to her arrest. Young cashed in her tickets almost as soon as she stole them at nearby stores.
The Florida Lottery tracked where the tickets were cashed and provided this information to the Polk County Sheriff, who was able to identify a vehicle associated with Young that was also seen at the convenience store robbery.
According to a statement from the Polk County Sheriff's Office:
The Florida Lottery provided documentation of the locations and times where the stolen winning lottery tickets were redeemed. Investigative resources were utilized to identify the suspect. A vehicle was observed in the area during the time frame of when the crime occurred. It was learned that the vehicle was associated with the suspect.
The sheriff tracked Young to her home and interviewed her, and she admitted to cashing in the stolen tickets; she was then arrested.
Before committing theft and lottery fraud, she racked up an impressive criminal record, including charges of armed robbery in South Carolina and twenty-two different arrests in Florida. She stole the lottery tickets just a few months after her release from state prison.
Young was on felony probation at the time of her crime and was returned to state prison to serve the remainder of her sentence and to await trial on her new charges.
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