A convenience store worker in Ohio faces felony charges after printing hundreds of unauthorized tickets. According to reports, the man had learned how to print Keno tickets without paying and used that to pay his bills.
The Man Had Learned to Exploit the Lottery Terminal
The man involved in this printing of tickets was identified as Joshua Melvin Hartley of Cleveland. The 32-year-old worked at a Sheetz convenience store in the Solon suburb and had apparently learned how to use an obscure lottery terminal function that effectively allowed him to print Keno tickets without paying a cent.
With this knowledge, Hartley printed himself hundreds of Keno tickets over the course of two months. Reports put the sum of the tickets he printed at $17,000. It should be noted that this refers to the price of the tickets and not the sums they actually won.
Hartley’s motivation seems to have been paying off bills.
Supervisors Noticed the Unusual Losses
Sheetz’s management learned of the scam roughly two months later when a loss prevention supervisor noticed the unusual losses. The store teamed up with the Ohio Lottery Commission, which allowed them to uncover the suspicious activity…