A Florida US Postal Worker is Charged With Stealing a Winning Lottery Ticket From the Mail

A United States Postal Service letter carrier has been arrested and accused of stealing a winning Florida Lottery ticket out of the mail and claiming the prize herself.

The Florida Lottery announced the arrest on Friday, July 31, describing it as the result of a joint investigation by its Division of Security and the USPS Office of Inspector General. Lakaysha Lockhart, 28, was arrested on July 23. She has not been convicted of anything, and the charges against her are allegations.

How the ticket went missing

A Florida Lottery player checked a ticket at a Publix in Tampa on June 15 and found it was a $2,600 Pick 4 winner. Because the buyer wanted the money to go to a relative in South Florida who was facing funeral costs, the ticket was sent via mail.

It never arrived. The buyer reported the non-delivery to the Florida Lottery, and a lottery inspector traced the ticket to the Florida Lottery's Miami District Office, where investigators say it had already been redeemed on June 19.

After the arrest, Florida Lottery special agents and USPS OIG investigators said Lockhart admitted to taking the ticket and cashing it, according to the agency's release.

Lockhart is charged with grand theft, dealing in stolen property, filing a false claim for payment, two counts of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and mail theft. The Florida Lottery said the alleged offenses happened in more than one judicial circuit, so the cases will be prosecuted separately.

"Our players deserve confidence that every Lottery prize is protected through strong security measures and diligent oversight," Florida Lottery Secretary Reginald D. Dixon said in a statement, thanking the USPS Office of Inspector General and the Broward County Sheriff's Office for their work on the case.

Why the ticket was in the mail at all

The detail that makes this case possible is a rule most players run into eventually. In Florida a retailer can pay out prizes up to $599, and anything above that has to be claimed at a Florida Lottery office. The buyer was in Tampa, the intended recipient was in South Florida, and $2,600 is over the line, so the ticket had to travel.

That gap between winning and claiming is where nearly every lottery theft case we have covered lives, including a South Carolina woman charged with cashing stolen scratch-offs and two former store employees charged in a scratch-off theft scheme.

Sign the back before it leaves your hands

Sign the back of a winning ticket straight away. An unsigned ticket behaves like cash and belongs to whoever is holding it, while a signed one carries a name the lottery can check against whoever turns up to claim it.

If a ticket has to be sent somewhere, sign it first, photograph both sides and save the photos on your phone, and consider adding a tracking number to the mail. We go through the whole process in how to claim a scratch-off prize. Current Florida games are on our Florida page.

Sources

PEOPLE: Florida U.S. Postal Service worker arrested, accused of stealing winning lottery ticket

CBS News Miami: USPS letter carrier arrested for stealing winning Florida Lottery ticket from mail

WPTV: Postal worker accused of stealing winning Florida Lottery ticket from the mail arrested