Stolen lottery ticket trial underway in Chicago

I am one of 16 traders whom Dora attempted to cheat.  I testified in court on Monday during the trial.  Out of 175 tickets, all chronologically ordered by number and time purchased, only the $175 grand ticket was missing.  There were multiple people in the store when she won (including myself).  The store owner testified that Dora told her to keep quiet about Dora winning.  Other people who were in the store told me (two years ago when it happened) that Dora told them the same thing.  Afterwards I told the other 15 traders that I saw Rich Tobin's clerk win $175 thousand.  They then told me that she was indeed checking our tickets, of which I was previously unaware.  When her boss confronted her she replied that it was her friend who won, not her.  This was her first of many lies.  I then told her that I was behind her in line, and saw her win.  We then made a quick check of the tickets and realized that there was one ticket missing, which obviously was the winning ticket.  At this point she was busted and knew it.  This is when she must've destryed or thrown away the ticket in an attempt to get rid of her incriminating evidence.  Her boss tried to reason with her.  He pleaded with her to give us the ticket.  He told her that he understood how the emotion of winning the ticket could overwhelm her into making a bad decision.  He assured her that nothing would happen to her and she would even keep her job if she would simply give us the ticket.  She claimed ingorance at this point saying she didn't know she won the $175 thousand (even though we had a copy of the ticket with her signature on the back), that maybe Tobin lost it, blah, blah, blah... 

In short, she tried to cheat her employer of six years, and got caught.  She is a dispicable, completely untrustworthy person.  The evidence against her was overwhelming, and everybody knew it!  It took the jury 2 hours to find her guilty, which is really a testament to her attourney.  It should've taken 2 minutes.

Barista, you gotta come back to reality kid.  Your rant may have a point or two regarding the courst system in general, but it has no relevance to this case.  She was overwhelmingly guilty.

Also, regarding the above comment about the traders not needing the money: ummm...what?  I am a trader, and I promise you, I need the money.  There are a few very successful traders in the 16, but most of us are just average guys like all of you.

Yes, it's an open and shut case of a missing Lottery Ticket, but where's the proof that she took the ticket with the intention of cashing it in and defrauding the rightful winners from their pize money? For all you know her boss lost the Ticket and she became a scapegoat to his plan to still collect the winnings from the Lottery Commission without presentation of the actual ticket. Winning Lottery Tickets are Bearer Instruments which will not be Honored without the Actual Ticket, unless of course you have documentation that the Ticket was Stolen. What better documentation could you have than Court Proceedings and the Conviction of an Innocent Person.

Raven,

You're an idiot.  She lied at every step of the way.  She changed her story at least three times.  The store owner testified that Dora signed the ticket, began the paperwork and then put the ticket in her front jacket pocket.  I SAW HER WIN MYSELF!  When she returned to the trading floor she gave a stack of tickets to her boss and told him his winnings equaled $17, failing to mention the $175,000 ticket that she won not 20 minutes beforehand.  How much more proof of deception do you need.  Her old boss is really a nice, completely trustworthy, and great guy!  Furthermore his top notch reputation on the floor is worth way more than $175 thousand.  He would never steal from his coworkers/friends.  That simply isn't the type of person he is.  Unlike Dora, he cares about his emplyees and coworkers.  For example, Dora's job had for years before the incident been obsolete.  He simply didn't need her.  Not one bit.  She kept her job because Mr. Tobin knew she had a family and needed the salary and medical insurance.  That's the type of guy he is.  If you really believe what you posted, you're an idiot and arguing with you is pointless.  One can't rationalize with an irrational person.

I'm out.

between her pocketing the $175,000 ticket and handing over only $17 worth to her boss, and this

"She claimed ingorance at this point saying she didn't know she won the $175 thousand (even though we had a copy of the ticket with her signature on the back),"

the b**** is guilty and deserves to do hard time.  Unbelieveable.  Unfreakingbelieveable.

I don't believe you are who you say you are!

awesomo2000
Chicago, IL
United States
Member #28675
December 13, 2005 

A witness against the accused anonymously appears here (New Member) to participate in this Lottery Post thread: I think NOT.

They say that a person who has to resort to insults in a discussion has already lost the discussion. 

Raven,

The 16 traders (including myself) all worked the the top left section of the OEX pit (the SP100 options pit) at the CBOE during the incident.  I worked for Wolverine Trading (www.wolve.com) at the time.  If you go to www.cboe.com and play the options report you can actually see some of the traders involved in the incident in the background.  Look for the group of guys in blue jackets.  They are Lakeshore, a brokerage firm.  From your vantage point, if you look to the right of those traders in the baby blue you will see some of the traders involved in this case.  That is where I used to stand as a trader in the OEX pit.  How do I know these things?  Well, it is because I am indeed one of those 16 traders and was indeed behind her in line at the A & B Tobacco store at 440 S. La Salle St. in Chicago (the CBOE building), which is why I was asked to be one of the three traders who testified in court on Monday.  I no longer work there, which is why I can post on this thread without having to worry about waking up at 7 AM like I did as an options trader.  You don't have to believe who I am.  That's really not important.  Just read the articles.  They are pretty accurate, except that we had around 175 tickets, not 38.  We each chipped in $10, and had maybe $15 rolled over from the week before, which is why I am not sure of the exact number of tickets.  Dora is the definition of guilty.  That's all that is important.  I am simply trying to give extra, inside details of this case that you wouldn't otherwise get from internet reports. 

Is she convicted already or accused? If the jury is convinced by the collaborating testimony of the witness for the State, she is found guilty. If the jury isn't convinced by the testimony and/or evidence presented by the prosecution she walks. According to the article the trial is under way and not over. Her defense attorney claims she lost the ticket. Is the jury going to beleive that single fact or not? This is the essence of the case. All because several people saw her win,  but she could not later produce the winning ticket,doesn't prove her INTENT was the criminal act of stealing. I think that will the defense's central argument here. It can go either way in these cases...but proving her intent in court is not always so easy if the defense counsel is a good, experienced trial lawyer. My bet is that SHE WALKS.

She was found guilty yesterday.  Sentencing is on Jan. 8th.  She did have criminal intent.  It was obvious.  Read my other posts. 

after reading forum seems like Mr. Tobin cared about her and her family at first by trying to get her to do the right thing. To bad she didn't care for her family as he did. What a disgrace! To bad her daughters faces were all over tv for everyone to see. How embaressind to have a mommy like that

She was found guilty...the circunstances led the jury that way and the defense's story was garbage. Pathetic what can happen to people's judgement when clouded by greed.

What I learned from this case: never trust another person to check your tickets for you. I check all my tickets online myself each day. When I have a winner I already know what I am getting paid.  Another dumb thing some people do is  give your unsigned tickets to the store clerks to check for you by running them through the Lottery Machine. Is that an inviation for another case of fraud  if a slight of hand clerk grabs a winning ticket and tells the player it's a loser?

My folks and bother do that all the time; they trust the person behind the counter will not pull a stunt...forget it.

Check your own tickets, keep your own records and  be smart.

A few years ago in Texas, while I lived in NM, would drive to el paso to shop and sometimes pick up a ticket.  Well, being the naive person I was, I never thought to find out how much 4 of 6 was worth, I thought it would be about 80 dollars, think tx was parimutual or something, but I handed my unsigned ticket to the clerk for her to check and viola, she says You won 5 dollars!  SO I was surprised, i know i had 4 right, but i didn't call her on it, got all the way back to NM and found out the payout was $105!!!!!!!!!!!!  She kept hte 100 for herself.  At the time TX didn't have a payout of 5 dollars for any prize and i was sure of the 4 of 6.  But since it was 2 hours from home and i didn't remember where we had gotten gas and checked my tickets, I didn't pursue it.  I figured she'd pay for it somehow, i'm a firm believer in things catching up to you when you screw someone over.  And from that day on I signed my tickets or checked to know for sure what my winnings were (by asking to see the slip that spits out when you win or the numbers in the newspaper).  Learned my lesson the hard way but basically can't trust some people.  I've also been the organizer of a couple of workplace lottery pools and I always always ALWAYS made copies of the tickets (even after the boss said it was inappropriate to use workplace copier, i'd take them home and scan them/copy for people) and since everyone has email now, I always sent out copies of the tickets before the drawings and i always asked people to doublecheck them, because i have missed a number or two, not anything major, but 2 or 3 dollars.  it's unfortunate that this woman took advantage of her boss and coworkers, it really is.  I enjoyed my office pool, we had a lot of fun with it.  Still do, I've moved, but I still am part of the pool.  It's just such a shame when you see people's greed overtake them and lie.  Doesn't sound like there is any question at all aobut this Dora, she's done something despicable and will have to live with it, plus the shame to her whole family.

ugh, i'm getting old, a few years ago was actually in 1994! 

Agree

Now awesomo2000, I made my comments about the court system, because of someone saying this or that about being innocent until being proven guilty! We all know that's a bunch of bull (the innocent line)! You're guilty until proven innocent and that's the way it's always been and that's the way it will always be! No one can honestly say it's not like that, because they know within their own hearts, that's exactly how our justice system sees the accused! That's it in a nut shell, nothing more or less! So why don't you come back to reality yourself kid! 

Agree with Txwinr.  This story is such a shame. Most people are not that dishonest.  I was part of a company pool for years and even sent money to the factory after my office was closed. These were good, hard-working people. I think it's important however to have very clear rules that everyone agrees to and make copies or scan each ticket purchased so all members have copies. The ticket is a bearer instrument, but having a copy should prove it was stolen. I've been unemployed for a few months and having a hard time lately so I cut way back on lottery tickets. It would be nice to chip in with 20 or 30 other people to improve my chances. Once at a place I worked I said I'd never share if the numbers I've played for many years ever won. As stupid as it might sound, I've never stopped playing the same numbers for over 10 years, although I often get a few more, usually QPs. Tickets purchased outside of the pool should be separate. But that wasn't taken well, so I decided not to join. At least I stated that upfront. What do you think? I mean, if people all pitch in $5 and then one member decides to play a few other tickets on the way home, why should that have anything to do with the office pool?