Former MD Lottery employee pleads guilty of stealing tickets, cashing winners

Aug 22, 2013, 9:33 am (34 comments)

Maryland Lottery

The office of the Maryland Attorney General said Tuesday a former Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency employee pleaded guilty to theft after stealing thousands of lottery tickets and cashing in winners for $67,000.

Mark Barron Hantske, 59, of Lothian, pleaded guilty in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to two counts of felony theft over $10,000.

Prosecutors say between June 2008 and February 2012, while employed as a lottery sales representative, Hantske stole more than 7,500 scratch-off tickets from nine retailers.

(See Former MD Lottery employee charged with theft of lottery tickets, Lottery Post, Apr. 19, 2013.)

The tickets were valued at $99,600, and Hantske cashed in winning tickets and collected more than $67,000.

Judge Paul A. Hackner has scheduled sentencing for Sept. 11.

Baltimore Sun

Comments

Jon D's avatarJon D

Just a confirmation of previous news:

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/259869

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Aug 22, 2013

Just a confirmation of previous news:

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/259869

Actually, it's not a confirmation, it's new news.  The person has pleaded guilty.  Previously, in the article from April, they were simply charged, but there was no admission of guilt.  (See the link to the previous story embedded in this new article.)

Ronnie316

Its a good story. Usually the sentence is already outlined in exchange for the guilty plea, but I guess we will have to wait til Sept. 11, to hear the actual verdict and get the new news.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

The lure of easy money. Always the downfall of the weak and the greedy.

duckman's avatarduckman

"The tickets were valued at $99,600, and Hantske cashed in winning tickets and collected more than $67,000."

The theft aside and from a statistics point of view, he actually did pretty good for scratch offs, only losing about 1/3rd of the ticket's face value...

MDguy

I'm glad he was convicted it is difficult enough to win anything good in Maryland without company corruption like this.

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by MDguy on Aug 22, 2013

I'm glad he was convicted it is difficult enough to win anything good in Maryland without company corruption like this.

I Agree!, MDguy.  Plus, it still amazes me that these thieving employees are allowed to continue their theft for over 3.5 years (while often even being "watched" by officials for over one year)!

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Unless the moron actually filed, i'm surprised there's no Federal charges for not paying taxes. Theres got to be a few good size winners.

NUMONEYNIJAS

never a good investnment u will 99.9 %of the time lose way more then you will ever win suckers like lotto freaks are just pipe dreaming Shocked

NUMONEYNIJAS

Quote: Originally posted by duckman on Aug 22, 2013

"The tickets were valued at $99,600, and Hantske cashed in winning tickets and collected more than $67,000."

The theft aside and from a statistics point of view, he actually did pretty good for scratch offs, only losing about 1/3rd of the ticket's face value...

thats how it always is they need tpo make the profit. if you buy a 100 DOLLARS OF LOTTTERY TICKETS U WILL probably get like 60 bucks back. not worth the investnment only play for fun & make the lotto rich ya digg Lurking i am going to win without paying ya digg work the system

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Quote: Originally posted by NUMONEYNIJAS on Aug 22, 2013

thats how it always is they need tpo make the profit. if you buy a 100 DOLLARS OF LOTTTERY TICKETS U WILL probably get like 60 bucks back. not worth the investnment only play for fun & make the lotto rich ya digg Lurking i am going to win without paying ya digg work the system

Welcome to the LP NUMONEYNIJASThumbs Up

Artist77's avatarArtist77

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Aug 22, 2013

Its a good story. Usually the sentence is already outlined in exchange for the guilty plea, but I guess we will have to wait til Sept. 11, to hear the actual verdict and get the new news.

Well actually "attorney" Ronnie, that is not correct. There is a range of a recommended PROPOSED SENTENCE by the 2 parties. The judge is not involved in the process at this point. Afterwards, he/she will review this recommendation and agreement and decide on sentencing. The judge does have the option to reject the sentence but cannot modify the terms of a plea bargain.

NUMONEYNIJAS

Quote: Originally posted by dallascowboyfan on Aug 22, 2013

Welcome to the LP NUMONEYNIJASThumbs Up

Smile

Thanks I'm a win 1 day without buying  a scratcheR

Jon D's avatarJon D

Quote: Originally posted by RedStang on Aug 22, 2013

Unless the moron actually filed, i'm surprised there's no Federal charges for not paying taxes. Theres got to be a few good size winners.

He could have gotten the 67% return with just $500 and below prizes, all anonymous cash transactions.(but still liable for taxes) That is about the expected return at that level for larger scratchers, maybe even a little low. And if he had 1 or 2 $1000 prizes, he could've done one of those deals with a shady clerk to cash it, and get back $600 for the $1000 win under the table.

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