Florida Lottery: Lottery manager resigns after charged with briberyA Florida Lottery regional manager has resigned, just days after he was charged with seeking kickbacks from a Starke convenience store owner.
Donnie Hamilton, manager of the 12-county lottery district headquartered in Gainesville, resigned Monday. Investigator said he offered to put Tony's Food Mart in Starke at the top of a waiting list for a lottery machine in exchange for a $1,500 bribe. He is charged with one count of bribery and one count of unlawful compensation for a government official.
"The store owner was apparently offended at the offer, and he gave us a call," said Woody Hiers, chief of FDLE's Bradford County office.
The Florida Lottery operates approximately 10,000 ticket machines around the state. Vendors get 5 cents per ticket sold and bonuses for selling winning tickets.
But the biggest draw is that the machines draw extra customers, who might buy other merchandise.
Getting the machines is not easy. First, a store owner must spend more than a year selling scratch-off lottery tickets, to prove that the location can attract players, lottery spokeswoman Sheila Griffin said. Then a store owner goes on a waiting list for a machine.
Hiers said Hamilton is accused of approaching the Tony's Food Mart's owner sometime last week, offering to put the store at the top of the list in exchange for a kickback.
The store's owner agreed to participate in a Thursday afternoon sting in which the owner was recorded giving the $1,500 to Hamilton.
Hamilton was released from the Bradford County Jail Monday on $20,000 bond.
There was no answer Tuesday at Hamilton's home telephone number.
