- Prosecutors say a store clerk tried to steal a winning $3 million Mega Millions lottery ticket.
- A customer bought two lottery tickets and a large bag of chips and then forgot the tickets.
A grand jury has indicted a liquor store clerk in Massachusetts after she tried to steal a $3 million winning lottery ticket from a customer, prosecutors say.
Timothy Cruz, the Plymouth County district attorney, said in a news release that Carly Nunes, 23, was found guilty on Friday of larceny, attempted larceny, presentation of a false claim, and witness intimidation.
Surveillance video taken on Jan. 17 showed an unidentified customer walking into the liquor store where Nunes worked in Lakeville, Massachusetts. He bought two Mega Millions lottery tickets, one Mass Cash lottery ticket, and a large bag of barbeque potato chips, Cruz said.
—DA Tim Cruz (@PlymouthCtyDAO) May 12, 2023
Nunes printed the man's lottery tickets on the store's ticket machine and rang up the man's order, which totaled $12, Cruz said. About 45 minutes after the man left the store, another customer came in to also buy lottery tickets. That customer noticed that the previous customer had left the tickets in the machine. He gave them to Nunes, the release says.
Lottery officials became suspicious when Nunes showed up to the state lottery headquarters on Jan. 19 to claim the $3 million prize with her boyfriend and her co-worker, Joseph Reddem, Cruz said.
The winning ticket that Nunes presented was "torn and appeared to be burned," the release says. Security camera footage at the lottery headquarters captured Nunes and Reddem arguing about the money. At one point, Nunes tells Reddem she would "only pay him $200,000."
"Nunes stated that she mistakenly tore the ticket when removing it from her wallet and the burn marks were the result of her accidentally placing the ticket on a pipe," Cruz said in the release.
Cruz said lottery officials overheard the argument and told Nunes they were opening an investigation into the winning ticket and that she would receive the money at the conclusion of the investigation. Lottery officials then contacted Massachusetts State Police.
After discovering that someone else had originally purchased the ticket, the police found the real lottery winner by placing flyers around the city with surveillance photos of him purchasing the ticket, according to the release.
Police also charged Reddem with attempted extortion related to the case.