Maryland liquor store owner charged in lottery scam

Comment #28

grave — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:14:46 GMT

Comment #27

maringoman — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:35:28 GMT

Why why why would you do that? now you are going to jail, probably lose your business, your family and friends.

Shortcuts will lead you to erehwon.

God bless you.

Comment #26

jarasan — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:11:09 GMT

MD drawings are 100% ball drawn except for KENO. MD has self checkers long time and about 6 months ago???? started informing the dollar value if it is a winner.

Comment #25

TheGameGrl — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:20:50 GMT

OKay , My State of PA has self checkers, all it flashes is Winning Ticket or No winner . IT doesnt state the value at all. And these were just implemented into our terminals about 4 months ago. I am curious if other states that have self checkers actually tell you the value of the winning??

I also had a ticket that was a winner and the self checker said no winner. I personally checked the offical website and wrote the numbers down , the ticket was valid for that play. I went up to the termina... [ More ]

Comment #24

rdgrnr — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 02:05:36 GMT

If I was gonna change states just for lottery I would probably go to Virginia which has 100% real lottery drawings.

Kentucky has 80% so they still have a couple games they can cheat you on easier.

Tennessee though only has 29% real drawings (MM and PB).

ALL of Tennessee's state run games are computer generated to make it easier to cheat players, which they have been caught doing, by the way.

Comment #23

tiggs95 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:37:03 GMT

Move to Kentucky where clerks here are honest and nice..Never had a problem here in 18 years..Move out of that dump Tenn and move to Heaven,aka Kentucky..See yah soon..We take anything...

Comment #22

pcurtis — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:50:47 GMT

Comment #21

jarasan — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:13:05 GMT

Greed, stupidity, pure and simple. Caveat emptor always.

Comment #20

savagegoose — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:58:11 GMT

so ytou gotta ask how desperate would you have to be to risk losing your store, and invenstment, i mean livleyhood. for $10k

i gotta assume seeting up a business is rather pricey, and the payout for for running it must be more than $10k a year.

so investment lost, lively hood lost on a $10k theft. is life so hard for a liquor store owner they have to resort to running that risk?

or are they just scum that view their need over someone elses rights

Comment #19

HiYoSilver — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:29:48 GMT

It appears from the story that this is not the first time she stole someones winning ticket.

A lottery security investigator, acting on a tip, took a winning ticket to Ross Liquors, but was told the ticket was not a winning number.

After the legal system gets done with her she'll be lucky to afford a $1 scratch-off. She definitely will no longer have her store when the Liqour Commision finds out she's been charged with a felony. Hopefully, she does some prison time also.

Comment #18

KY Floyd — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 05:17:51 GMT

Where did the winning ticket come from?

They make them. When you own the computer that will check the info when the ticket is scanned and tell the clerk whether or not it's a winner it's pretty simple to make a ticket come up as a winner.

Comment #17

Boney526 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 04:39:17 GMT

My Birthday, too, lol. Bad day for her, though.

Comment #16

PERDUE — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:55:22 GMT

A lottery security investigator, acting on a tip, took a winning ticket to Ross Liquors, but was told the ticket was not a winning number.

Police said when Stone scanned it, the lottery terminal made a loud noise, which is normal when a winning ticket is cashed in.

Maybe I am being a little slow, but, I gotta ask.......

Where did the winning ticket come from?

Did the winning ticket come from a customer?

Or did the security investigator purchase the winning ticket somewhere?

Or

Comment #15

NYSlugger 777 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:51:26 GMT

Ross Liquors store owner, Melissa Ann Stone, 39, of the 3900 block of Goose Harbor Road in Middle River, has been charged with attempted theft of between $10,000 and $100,000. A trial date has been set for May 26.

WOW her trail Date has been set for my Birthday May 26th! One of my B - Day wishes for that day would be for her to be convicted and found guilty and sent to jail for the maximum time allowed for the crime she commited.

Comment #14

NYSlugger 777 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:46:42 GMT

Hey be careful what you wish for you may really come back as a fly in the afterlife...LOL only kidding!

Yes I agree she deserves to go to jail and i'm glad they did this undercover sting. More Undercover operations should be done like this in the future in other states too to crack down on scam artists who are willing to steal prize money from would be winners. It's a sad thing that we have dishonest lottery clerks like her working all over the country and the sad reality is that things li... [ More ]

Comment #13

Litebets27 — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:53:42 GMT

Gamegirl, I can appriciate what your saying about the volumes, but, when you have big wins the machines don't sound off with bells and whistles. The Maryland State lottery run promotional games frequently that will have music or horns sound off when you present a winning ticket to be cashed in. I am allowed to scan my tickets at the store where I usually play lottery. I have scanned several $1000.00 Keno tickets. Never once did a bell or whistle sound off.

When someone presents a big win, one... [ More ]

Comment #12

TheGameGrl — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:19:57 GMT

Litebet, the MD terminals are set for volume, the clerks can have the option to turn it off or very low volume. I frequent the MD area for busines and often when I go into lottery places, they keep the volume at a moderate level, but not to the extent that a hard of hearing person could decipher.

This lady in question was nieve ....How sad that she had to go to such lengths to learn a lesson in life. ...

Comment #11

freeobama — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:09:03 GMT

GREED lead to her downfall.

Comment #10

Litebets27 — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:43:01 GMT

If this is true, the terminals in the stores were I play lottery mut be malfunctioning. I've only heard bells and whistles when winning promotional tickets are cashed in. I've had some big wins, but the only loud noice I heard was the store's owners saying, oh wow!!

Ms Stone...Go directly to Jail...Don't pass go...Don't collect...anything. What a thief.

Comment #9

rdgrnr — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:57:33 GMT

Congrats to Md for doing their job!

TN would never even THINK of doing it.

The crooks here are free to rip off anybody they want and they know nobody is checking up on them.

I reported a clerk who tried to rip off my wife (I got the money btw) and they just told me to be careful and didn't even ask where it happened.

WTG Maryland!

Tennessee Lottery Sucks.

Comment #8

HaveABall — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:14:31 GMT

Wow, here she's a respected business woman, who owns her own established small business store (which takes a few years work and intelligence), and she decides to steal someone's (or a few winning lottery ticket holders) income gain for her own (which her small business would have probably earned equivalent within 1.5 - 2 months)!

Why would someone become so desperate that they'd be willing to dangle their built-up reputation, integrity, livelihood, and business volume for a measly pre-taxed... [ More ]

Comment #7

OldSchoolPa — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:53:50 GMT

Well I am sure she will also have to pay a fine when she is convicted. The stigma associated with having been found to be a cheat combined with the fact that many people make impulse decision to frequent retailers that participate in the lottery should see her foot traffic decrease substantially, and it might not be too long before she does lose her store. In due time, justice will prevail. In the meantime, let that MegaMillions jackpot roll higher and higher....for an honest but good lawd I nee... [ More ]

Comment #6

hearsetrax — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:20:18 GMT

I tink she should've lost her store as well

Comment #5

delS — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:59:29 GMT

I live 30 minutes from there. Never have stopped to play there though. Im always checking, and double checking my numbers. But to think that someone would hear all the bells and whistles (horns) and think no one would call her on the carpet is insanity. She must be really going through an aweful financial crisis to be that pressed and bold. She'll never live it down in her community.

Comment #4

OldSchoolPa — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:12:54 GMT

Can you say DUMB DA DUMB DUMB!!! Stupid dumb is what she is. This reminds me of those stings the police are conducting around the country using bait cars. But I digress....I imagine her defense is going to sound a little like this.... I have been doing lottery players a favor with my promotions.....I felt I was entitled to some of winnings since I checked/cashed tickets for people even if they didn't purchase the ticket at my store. Oh and the person....blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Good advice... [ More ]

Comment #3

butterflykt — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:49:50 GMT

Police said when Stone scanned it, the lottery terminal made a loud noise, which is normal when a winning ticket is cashed in. Investigators said the horn is loud enough for the hearing impaired to hear.

It's pretty obvious bells, whistles and lights go off letting the agent know that it's a winning ticket, but in this case (she) would tell the person it wasn't a winning ticket and keep the ticket, Baltimore County Police Lt. Rob McCullough said.

She is so dumb! I wish I could have b... [ More ]

Comment #2

sully16 — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:46:02 GMT

Missy this wouldn't have happened if you were a member of Lottery post, you would have known

everyone is always on the lookout for dishonest clerks...

You screwed your life up for 10 grand ..Yikes ! your dumb.

Comment #1

dallascowboyfan — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:44:23 GMT

No she didn't.... glad she got caught.....she definitely deserves to go to jail.....

Maryland liquor store owner charged in lottery scam

Lottery Post — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:22:36 GMT

The owner of a liquor store in North Point, Maryland, was arrested and charged with grand theft, petty theft, and fraud after she was caught stealing an undercover agent's winning lottery ticket worth $10,000.

Ross Liquors, located in the Merritt North Shopping Center, had its Maryland Lottery license revoked following the undercover operation. The theft occured on last week, on March 8th.

Ross Liquors store owner, Melissa Ann Stone, 39, of the 3900 block of Goose Harbor Road in Middle Riv... [ More ]