Cashier switched her story during investigation, something didn't add up

By Kate Northrop

LAKEVILLE, Mass. — A liquor store clerk and her coworker have been indicted on charges that they stole a winning Massachusetts Lottery ticket worth $3 million and attempted to cash it in.

Following a four-month investigation, a Plymouth County grand jury indicted Carly Nunes, 23, of Lakeville, on multiple criminal charges for stealing and attempting to claim a winning lottery ticket worth $3 million.

Massachusetts State Police, the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, and Lakeville Police worked together in a four-month long investigation that involved video surveillance footage, witness interviews, and "a voluminous review of records," U.S. District Attorney Timothy Cruz said.

On Jan. 17, 2023, the victim, who remains anonymous, entered Lakeville Market & Liquors on Bedford Street in Lakeville and brought a bag of barbecue potato chips to the counter for checkout. He asked to buy a couple lottery tickets — two Quick Picks for Mega Millions and two Quick Picks for Mass Cash. He added the multiplier option to his Mega Millions plays to increase non-jackpot winning prizes.

Nunes input the order into the lottery terminal and printed two tickets. She returned to the cash register and rang up the customer's purchase for a total of $12.

The unidentified man left and drove home with the potato chips but forgot his lottery tickets in the terminal tray at the store. That same night, one set of numbers on the ticket came up in the Mega Millions drawing, and with the Megaplier option added, it won a $3 million prize.

Now realizing his mistake, the man "briefly" searched for his missing lottery tickets but concluded they were simply lost.

About 45 minutes after he had left the liquor store, a different customer came in to buy lottery tickets. Nunes entered their order into the terminal, printed out the tickets, and handed them off. However, the customer realized they had been given two extra tickets, the same ones that had belonged to the victim, and handed them back to Nunes. She took the tickets and said they must have belonged to "him," referring to the previous customer that had left them behind.

Two days later, on Jan. 19, 2023, coworker Joseph Reddem, 32, of Manchester, New Hampshire, drove Nunes and her boyfriend to Massachusetts Lottery headquarters in Dorchester to claim the prize. There, a Lottery customer service representative scanned the ticket and confirmed it was worth $3 million, but it was torn and appeared to be burned. Regardless, Nunes and her boyfriend hugged and cheered when they found out it was valid.

Lottery surveillance footage shows Nunes and Reddem arguing in the lobby of the building shortly after verifying the ticket, where Reddem allegedly demanded prize money. Nunes told Reddem that she would "only pay him $200,000," a news release stated.

With Lottery officials having overheard the couple's argument, and in conjunction with the damaged condition of the ticket, Massachusetts Lottery investigators grew suspicious and decided to interview Nunes before paying out the prize.

At first, Nunes told officials that she herself bought the winning ticket at the end of her shift on the day of the drawing and accidentally tore it when she removed it from her wallet. The ticket also sported burn marks, which she said was a result of mistakenly placing the ticket on a pipe. After collecting her initial statement, the Lottery told Nunes that they were opening an investigation and that she would receive her prize at the very end.

Nunes' story was immediately contradicted by security footage at Lakeville Market & Liquors, which confirmed that it was the male victim, not Nunes, who bought the winning ticket. Investigators sat Nunes down for another interview, and the cashier told a different story. Rather than purchase the ticket herself, she had "inadvertently obtained the winning ticket."

On Friday, Nunes was charged with one count each of Larceny from a Building, Attempted Larceny, Presentation of a False Claim, and Witness Intimidation, while Reddem was indicted on one count of Attempted Extortion.

One month after the drawing, the true winner realized he had accidentally left the winning ticket at the liquor store. Investigators posted flyers across Lakeville that displayed screenshots of the man in the surveillance video and questioned other customers about his identity. On Feb., 13, 2023, investigators located and interviewed the original purchaser of the winning ticket, Cruz said.

The Lottery says they will be paying out the full prize to the victim. Nunes and Reddem will be arraigned on the charges at a later date.