An Oregon Short Stop employee was caught red-handed during an Oregon State Police sting operation.
Undercover check
An undercover sting operation conducted by the Oregon State Police (OSP) and Oregon Lottery ended with the arrest of an employee at a lottery retailer in La Grande.
The sting operation took place on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Detectives from the OSP's Lottery security section stopped at a Short Stop located at 1709 Gekeler Lane in La Grande.
During the store visit, detectives presented the employee with a winning ticket. However, the employee scanned the tickets and told them there were no winners.
However, detectives knew there was a $25,000 winner, and the employee kept it for themself. After the incident, authorities called the Oregon Lottery and had the ticket placed on “hold.”
An attempt to claim the stolen ticket
A week after allegedly taking the winning lottery ticket from the undercover detectives, the store clerk tried to redeem the $25,000 and mailed in the winning lottery ticket on Thursday, September 26, 2024.
In addition to mailing in the winning ticket, the clerk filled out and signed the Lottery Winner Claim Form and included that with the ticket. That made it very easy to link the clerk to the stolen ticket.
OSP Lottery detectives then interviewed the store clerk and charged him with aggravated theft and computer crime, officials said. The Marion County District Attorney's Office is also recommending additional charges of theft by deception and forgery in the first degree.
No previous issues
Lottery officials said the Short Stop location has been an Oregon Lottery retailer since 2005. They don't have any history of compliance issues prior to this incident.
“While it is rare to see an individual be dishonest at one of our retailers, we have a responsibility to ensure our games are played with fairness and integrity,” said Justin Hedlund, Oregon Lottery's assistant director of security. “These checks are one way we accomplish that.”
Routine undercover checks are being completed
While it may seem like a sting operation, officials said these types of undercover checks are routinely done by OSP at Oregon Lottery retailers throughout the year. In fact, they have completed over 170 of them since 2020.
The OSP detectives assigned to the Oregon Lottery are there to help support the agency and make sure there is fairness, integrity, security, and honesty in the operation of the lottery.
To keep things fair and safe, the Oregon Lottery recommends that players with a winning ticket sign the back of that ticket to help ensure they can claim the winning prize.
Lottery players helping students
While the store clerk above was trying to help themself to a $25,000 win, players in the Oregon Lottery are helping students in the state every day.
When the lottery was first approved by voters in the 1980s, revenue from the lottery helped benefit economic development.
However, Oregon voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots less than a decade later and passed legislation for a new beneficiary: Oregon public schools!
Since that election and change went into place, schools in Oregon have become the single biggest recipient of proceeds from the lottery. Officials said over half of all lottery revenue — about 53% — goes to public schools across the state, helping kindergarteners up to college students.
Now, for almost 30 years, every time you play one of the Oregon Lottery games, you're helping to support students in the state.
Enjoy playing the Oregon Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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