3 charged in theft of $250,000 lottery ticket

Aug 5, 2016, 9:59 am (46 comments)

Iowa Lottery

IOWA CITY, Iowa — An employee at an Iowa lottery retailer is charged with stealing a winning $250,000 instant scratch ticket and working with her boyfriend and mother in a clumsy attempt to claim the prize, investigators said last week.

Prosecutors allege that Casey's general store employee Ashley Bosler, 20, found the winning ticket by scratching off a corner and scanning the bar code that confirmed it was a winner of the game's top prize.

She allegedly hadn't paid for the ticket and was too young to play, so she asked a co-worker to sign it and eventually her boyfriend, who tried to claim it. Suspicious lottery officials refused to approve the payout after noticing scribbling on the back of the ticket.

"In the excitement of finding a winner, different ideas may have been suggested about how they go about claiming it," Buena Vista County Attorney Dave Patton said, adding that it was unclear who all wrote on the ticket but that Bosler's co-worker wasn't charged.

An investigation ensued, and all three were jailed this week on felony charges.

Bosler and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Johnny Long Jr., were being held in the Buena Vista County Jail in Storm Lake. Both are charged with theft of a lottery ticket. Bosler and her mother, 42-year-old Sally Bosler, are charged with aiding and abetting. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.

Sally Bosler told The Associated Press on Friday that she didn't believe she'd done anything criminal.

"They really thought they won," said Bosler, who was released from jail Thursday after posting bond. "I don't know why I'm in trouble. I had nothing to do with it. I gave them a ride to go cash this."

She said her daughter "freaked out" after scratching the winning ticket at work on June 14 because she didn't meet the lottery's minimum age requirement of 21. She then asked a co-worker to sign the ticket, which is legally required to claim the prize.

Investigators allege that Sally Bosler took $20 to her daughter so she could pay for the already-scratched ticket.

But the elder Bosler said didn't know how the money was used and would never give her daughter money to play the lottery. She said she drove her daughter and Long to a regional lottery office to cash the ticket three days later. She said her daughter and her boyfriend talked of buying a home and donating some of the money to charity.

Public defenders were assigned Friday to represent Long, a farm laborer, and Ashley Bosler. Both are scheduled for bond hearings Monday. Their attorneys didn't immediately return messages.

All three live in Sioux Rapids, a town of 800 that has been buzzing about the case since the Wednesday arrests.

Sally Bosler said her daughter was fired from Casey's general store amid the investigation. A Casey's spokesman didn't return messages seeking comment.

The risk of theft and fraud by lottery retailers has long been a concern. In a 2009 investigation, the Iowa Ombudsman's office found that "some retailers and store employees have been uncommonly lucky playing the lottery" and warned that the agency needed to do more to prevent and detect problems.

The report warned about "pickouts" in which store employees keep winning scratch tickets and sell losers to the public.

"It is definitely a phenomenon that's known about in the lottery security world," said Ombudsman investigator Bert Dalmer. "It sounds like the lottery has been keenly aware of that in this case, which is a good thing for players."

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

AP, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Unluckyone's avatarUnluckyone

Here we go again. And they want us to believe that they can be trusted?

luckyshoes's avatarluckyshoes

Why did the mother drive them to cash it? Couldnt the boyfriend or the girl drive.....because mama wanted her cut of the payout.

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Even in an ungodly world folks know about:  Thou shalt not steal!

Unluckyone's avatarUnluckyone

Quote: Originally posted by luckyshoes on Aug 5, 2016

Why did the mother drive them to cash it? Couldnt the boyfriend or the girl drive.....because mama wanted her cut of the payout.

I think mama wanted in on the prize as well.

This scenario plays out more often than people think as there are a lot of unethical employees working at many of these lottery retailers.

Lildarryl

thug life.   Like Marie Holmes and hot sauce.  They get what they deserve.    How dumb can you be.   Omg

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Something to ponder: Why do people go to such lengths to be just like these overly-publicized lowlifes?

noise-gate

Oh Ashley....

sully16's avatarsully16

Never ending supply.

LiveInGreenBay's avatarLiveInGreenBay

 Good work by those Iowa lottery people recognizing this as a potential scam.  They're the ones who busted Tipton too.

rustysmom's avatarrustysmom

A while back i filled out an employment application for a gas station that i buy tickets at a lot. the first thing i was told was if hired I could no longer buy tickets there.that should be policy at all stores.at least while they are working

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by rustysmom on Aug 5, 2016

A while back i filled out an employment application for a gas station that i buy tickets at a lot. the first thing i was told was if hired I could no longer buy tickets there.that should be policy at all stores.at least while they are working

So did you take the job or did you move on seeing that you could not purchase tickets there? ..Just asking.

It would seem that being surrounded by all those scratchers would truly tests one's will power on a daily basis hey?

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

When are some of these fools gonna learn?.

rustysmom's avatarrustysmom

I never got called. when she told me , I couldn't buy tickets there,she laughed and said the store would loose a lot of money.

noise-gate

You have got to love Sally ' s explanation " l just drove them there." What a kind and helpful Mother,looking out for her baby's interest. It's similar to the person driving the getaway car - " l had no idea these guy's had robbed a bank, l was just there to drive."

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