What if the biggest threat to you winning the lottery was the person selling you tickets? When you go to buy Florida lottery scratch tickets, your goal is pretty simple. Everyone is hoping for a big payday and maybe a little fun along the way.
But recently, an assistant manager of a convenience store in Jacksonville, FL has been accused of stealing scratch tickets. But would he do this, and how much did he nearly get away with? Keep reading to discover the full breakdown!
Florida Lottery Scratch Tickets: The Accused
You don’t have to be a police detective to know what questions to ask. Just like you learned in grade school, the most important first question is “who.” In this case, who is accused of the crime?
The man in question is Richard Dawayne Fonville. He is 37 years old and lives in Hilliard, Florida. He was the assistant manager of a Circle K in Jacksonville, Florida, and took his chance when the main manager was gone for a few days and Fonville was in charge.
Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for the returning manager to put two and two together.
When Did The Crime Happen?
News of the crime first broke on January 20, 2021. However, the news was a little late in this case. That’s because the crime in question took place between December 20 and December 28 of last year.
On December 29, the manager returned back to the store. And at this point, they began reviewing some inconsistencies in lottery sales, and this led them to determine exactly who did it and how (more details on this below).
At this point, Fonville is merely accused of a crime and not yet convicted. But given that the nature of the evidence includes video footage of his alleged crimes, things are not looking good for his case.
How Much Was Stolen?
When you hear about theft involving Florida lottery scratch tickets, your first question is “who did it?” The second question follows directly from the first: how much did they end up stealing?
You might not think it was that much. After all, a smart criminal would know that stealing too many tickets is a great way to get caught. Unfortunately, this alleged criminal did not get that particular memo.
Local law enforcement reports that Fonville allegedly stole tickets were a combined total of $6,520. Given the average price of scratch tickets, this was quite a chunk of change!
The Circle K manager’s detective work helped us learn more about how much was stolen. But there is still a big question regarding how much Fonville profited from his alleged crimes.
Unknown Winnings
As every lottery player knows, a scratch ticket may be worth far more! What you must remember is that the LEAST you can win on a scratch-off ticket is the price you spent on the game.
When you don’t win, you might feel like you threw away your money on a useless card. But when you do win big, it feels great to get a nice payday merely for scratching off the right areas.
Sadly, when it comes to Fonville’s alleged crime, we don’t know exactly how much he won. The $6,520 total reported earlier does not include how much money he won from the stolen lottery tickets.
While such information is not public, we are fairly certain the local law enforcement officials have gotten things figured out. And the amount of these winnings may play a major role in Fonville’s eventual trial.
How Was He Caught?
Obviously, there are people who get away with crimes every single day. And the ability to get away with it is largely related to the ability to cover up the crime.
On paper, it might have been easy for Fonville to cover up his alleged crimes due to his position as assistant manager. And the absence of the store’s primary manager might have made such a cover-up easier.
In reality, catching Fonville was quite easy. It began when the manager returned on December 29 and discovered what appeared to be discrepancies related to lottery sales of the previous eight days.
Going off of this, the manager promptly pulled up the store’s security footage. And there, clear as day, was Fonville removing tickets without paying for them and scanning them to see which ones were winners. The video even showed Fonville snagging money from the register for each winning ticket.
That footage made the next few steps very easy. For both the manager and the local sheriff!
Quick Consequences
The short-term consequences of Fonville’s alleged crimes came very quickly. The manager wasted no time firing Fonville from his position as the assistant manager of Circle K. And the manager also contacted the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office right away.
As we noted before, Fonville will certainly get his day in court and a chance to present his defense. But that trial is likely to be bleak given that the police have clear recorded footage of the alleged crimes!
Uncertain Future
There is another reason that Fonville’s case looks rather bleak. As of January 20, 2021, jail records indicate that Fonville does not have a lawyer.
If he has trouble affording his own lawyer, then he may have to make do with a public defender. But given the nature of both his alleged crime and the evidence against him, it would be in Fonville’s best interest to hire the best local lawyer that money can buy!
Your Next Big Win
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