Employee accused of stealing $17,000 worth of lottery tickets

Aug 15, 2003, 3:38 am (Post a comment)

Texas Lottery

Teresa Lynette Guyton, 31, is charged with theft between $1,500 and $20,000, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Authorities accuse her of activating, stealing and cashing an unspecified number of scratch-off tickets from the Copper Mart on Boonville Road.

Guyton was arrested Wednesday and released from the Brazos County Jail later that day on a $15,000 personal recognizance bond. She could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Copper Mart managers contacted Bryan police on Feb. 7 because they thought an employee had been taking the tickets since Nov. 24, court records state. The store is owned by Bryan City Councilman Boyd Sheffield, who could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

According to documents, Sheffield told police he questioned Guyton about $17,125 worth of scratch-off tickets that had been activated but were missing. Police spoke with Guyton, too, but she denied any knowledge about where they were located, the affidavit states.

Copper Mart store managers met with Texas Lottery Commission officials in March, and the commissions records showed a large increase in activated tickets during the months Guyton is accused of stealing them, police said.

Two days later, Copper Marts manager compared Guytons January time card to the times when unaccounted for packs of tickets were activated and found that the tickets were issued on her shift, records state.

The missing tickets for that month are worth more than $3,000.

Records show that a grocery stores security camera recorded Guyton and her boyfriend cashing a $500 winning ticket from one of the missing packs, but she told officers she bought it from another Copper Mart employee.

The owners of three other local stores picked Guyton out of a line-up as the person who cashed winning tickets at their businesses, police said.

College Station Eagle

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