Man who stole winning lottery ticket gets 5 years

Nov 18, 2006, 10:45 am (16 comments)

California Lottery

A judge on Friday sentenced Sam Grair to five years and four months in prison for stealing a lottery ticket worth $524,000 at the store where he worked.

Grair, 43, pleaded guilty in September to grand theft and presenting a fraudulent claim to a government agency.

Prosecutor Howard Wise said the message is this: "It is a deterrent to any store clerk that is in a position of trust so they won't do the same thing."

Wise said Grair, of Camarillo, had no prior criminal history.

In court, Grair, through his attorney, expressed his remorse, shame and apologized to the victim, Robert Sehested.

According to Wise, Grair, who worked at Crossroads Market in Camarillo, sold a Mega Millions lottery ticket on Feb. 14. The cash value of the ticket was $524,000. Robert Sehested, who purchased the ticket, returned to the market and put it in an automated reader. The machine said the ticket was a winner.

The automated reader didn't provide information about how much the ticket was worth.

"I had one ticket that said, 'Congratulations, see retailer,'" Sehested told a reporter in March.

Officials said Grair, who was the store clerk, said he had won $4. He kept the ticket and presented it to the Lottery Commission as if he had purchased it.

Sehested had said he told Grair to roll the winnings back into the next lottery, since his winnings appeared to be so small. Sehested walked out of the store with $4 or $5 worth of lottery tickets, thinking that was it.

Sehested learned he'd bought the winning ticket after viewing a surveillance tape of the purchase on the Ventura County Star's Web site.

The judge on Friday also ordered Grair to pay $19,460 as restitution to Sehested for the amount of interest the ticket would have earned had the proceeds been put in the bank immediately, Wise said.

Ventura County Star

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RJOh's avatarRJOh

Maybe if Grair had been honest, Sehested might have tipped him a couple of bucks.  A couple of bucks or nothing isn't much but it's better than five years in prisons.  I wonder how many store clerks don't get caught cheating their customers? 

He gambled 5yrs as a store clerk against $524,000 minus taxes and lost,maybe it seem like a good gamble until he got caught.

weshar75's avatarweshar75

Their is always a few bad apples in the bunch every year that try to get away with trying to con a customer or the lottery itself into giving them winnings that they did not purchase themselves.  I think that is why I have a computer with internet and a cell phone so that I can check my tickets against the numbers online or call the numbers 800 number for lottery results.  So I know when my ticket is a winner before the clerk even rings it up.  Same thing with scratch-its in that you should know the game you are playing and uncover the entire game surface and then read the ticket front and back.  Little things players can do to cover yourself like using a scanner to see if your ticket is a winner and then try to see the terminal when the ticket is validated to see how much you won.  The store I go to the terminal is on the side counter so I can see the screen when they validate my winners.  They can not cheat me!-weshar75

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

Even if someone isn't on the net there's still the newspapers and sometimes a 1-800 number.

I can't believe people are so glad to have a winner they don't "do a visual" on the numbers themselves.  

Most places in Illinois print out a results ticket with the latest draw on it.  

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

I wonder how our sock puppet is feeling today?

 

   BTW, they left out the part that he started out his life of crime by taking tips from customers who bought scratch tickets.

DoubleDown

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Nov 18, 2006

I wonder how our sock puppet is feeling today?

 

   BTW, they left out the part that he started out his life of crime by taking tips from customers who bought scratch tickets.

LMAO,  JXP !!!!!

Green laugh

qutgnt

INstead of saying congratulations please see retailer it should tell you how much you won like they do in illinois. Sure you might have to deal with the problem of the guy behind you beating you up if he sees you have a big winner but that is a lot less likely then high school dropout clerks trying to rake you over the coals.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

"The judge on Friday also ordered Grair to pay $19,460 as restitution to Sehested for the amount of interest the ticket would have earned had the proceeds been put in the bank immediately, Wise said."

The judge assumed a lot if he thought a guy that didn't think to pre-check his own tickets before cashing them in would have been thinking about putting all his winnings in an interest paying account immediately after receiving them.  Under that theory a person who cheated you out of $5 thirty years ago could own you a million dollars today if you look at what a $5 investment thirty years ago could be worth today if invested properly.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

RJOh....  Wow!  Maybe I should go after my ex who, in 1982, took off with over $6,000 of my money.

I think the winner was fortunate to get his $500K.  After all, he had no idea he had even won the money.

tntea's avatartntea

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Nov 18, 2006

I wonder how our sock puppet is feeling today?

 

   BTW, they left out the part that he started out his life of crime by taking tips from customers who bought scratch tickets.

This really does bother you doesn't?

Why not stop scratching or start tipping.. one or the other will relieve your conscience..

Bob21456

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Nov 20, 2006

"The judge on Friday also ordered Grair to pay $19,460 as restitution to Sehested for the amount of interest the ticket would have earned had the proceeds been put in the bank immediately, Wise said."

The judge assumed a lot if he thought a guy that didn't think to pre-check his own tickets before cashing them in would have been thinking about putting all his winnings in an interest paying account immediately after receiving them.  Under that theory a person who cheated you out of $5 thirty years ago could own you a million dollars today if you look at what a $5 investment thirty years ago could be worth today if invested properly.

Actually restitution to ME was $2344.38. That was interest lost for 43 days on $398,000.00. AND FOR YOUR INFO... I have not spent one penny of the winnings yet... The day I received the check it was deposited into a six mont CD and it is now sitting in an ordinary savings account (5% APR) until I figure out how to invest it...

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Sounds right to me.  I figured the article must have gotten that figure wrong. Too bad you didn't invest it in a tax deferred annuity for a year or 2.  You probably wouldn't have gotten 5% for such a short term investment, but you also wouldn't be paying taxes on the interest until you get everything settled. There's nothing wrong with letting the money sit in a bank account either. I would be thrilled making almost $20K a year in interest.

 Good luck to you and I hope you help people who aren't as fortunate.

Bob21456

We already help many people through the foundation we started...."Don't Forget The Children".... We started this many years ago after reading the christmas wish of a 6 year old that was on a salvation army wish tree... This child wanted a blanket for christmas... because he was cold... Needless to say, he got a blanket and much more.... We have taken care of thousands of kids over the years.... it will continue...

 Bob

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by tntea on Nov 22, 2006

This really does bother you doesn't?

Why not stop scratching or start tipping.. one or the other will relieve your conscience..

My conscience?  I wrote that with my tongue in my cheek, but apparently it hit a nerve. I hate arguments or any other type of conflict, but why would I feel guilty about not tipping a convenient store clerk?  I'd feel lousy if I didn't help the needy or wasn't kind to animals, but the only thing I'm scratching now is my head wondering how you can possibly write this comment. I know - it's a medical phenomenon I was reading about called N.S.A.A. (no shame at all)

floridian's avatarfloridian

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Nov 26, 2006

My conscience?  I wrote that with my tongue in my cheek, but apparently it hit a nerve. I hate arguments or any other type of conflict, but why would I feel guilty about not tipping a convenient store clerk?  I'd feel lousy if I didn't help the needy or wasn't kind to animals, but the only thing I'm scratching now is my head wondering how you can possibly write this comment. I know - it's a medical phenomenon I was reading about called N.S.A.A. (no shame at all)

Good Grief -- jx you should not feel you have to apologize for your remarks.  Dang people on the Post sure do have thin skins lately. 

I re-read the entire original thread about Bob's being faked out by the strore clerk, how bad he feels that a one time felon may get a harsh sentence, when he will appear on TV, times dates and pictures of Bob with fish and how he wants to spread his demise out to the entire world so no one else will get shafted the way he did and how he helps kids and etc, etc, etc.

Bob, you have had your fifteen minutes of fame, enough already.  I love you, think you are great, you are close to being the savior of mankind and have blessed us all by your unrelenting goodness.  But take a breathe, the story is over and the sentence has been passed down, case closed.

Floridian

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