Store owners, employees admit stealing
$100,000 lottery ticket

KATC -3
November 20, 2004

GRETNA, La. The owners of a convenience store and two employees have pleaded guilty to scheming to trick a customer out of his 100-thousand dollar Powerball ticket.

None of them got any jail time for the crime of altering a lottery ticket.

Judge Jo Ellen Grant suspended the two-year terms she gave Quick General Mini Mart owners Hang T- Nguyen and Ngoc P- Tran, both of Amelia, and put both on probation.

Nguyen's sister, Nhat Nguyen, of New Orleans, and Hoang Nguyen, of Amelia, were put in a program which would dismiss the charge if they get through probation without getting into any more problems with the law.

Charles Stone of Morgan City bought the Powerball ticket at a Houma store.

Although prizes of more than 600 dollars are paid at Louisiana Lottery Corporation offices, he took it to the Mini Mart in his home town to see if it was a winner.

Store employees allegedly told him it wasn't, then scratched out his signature and replaced it with one of their own.

Investigators were able to decipher Stone's signature and find him. He got his money in February, shortly after the four were arrested.

How many times could this have happened to you?
This is one of the reasons that I suggested to our legislators that stores NOT be allowed to check tickets for players. Not only would this protect the players, but it would also reduce the work load of retailers. Also, lottery terminals CAN and DO err in reading the tickets. So ... check your own tickets - only ask retailers to pay you your winnings!

Read story about a Texas $31 million winner
who committed suicide (1999). Click here.

More Sab but true winner stories. MM's $149M
winner divorcing and Powerballs largest jackpot
winner ($315M) in more trouble. Click here.

Sad but True Winners Stories. Click here.

One Winner - One Loser - What a story.
Everyone should read this one. Three other stories
include an interview with a winner, a news story
regarding the Oct 13 Lotto Texas machine malfunction
and the huge sales decline for New York's in state
Lotto game since joining MM. Click here.