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A Greeley man was booked into Lancaster County jail Monday after being arrested on an outstanding warrant for falsely claiming a winning lottery scratch-off ticket, according to court documents.
Jeremiah Ehlers, 49, has been charged with theft by deception of more than $5,000.
In April, Ehlers presented a winning Diamond Dollars scratch-off ticket to the Nebraska Lottery in Lancaster County, worth $300,000. After taxes, Ehlers was paid $213,000, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
The company that owns the Greeley gas station where Ehlers was a store manager contacted a deputy state sheriff with the Nebraska Department of Revenue and accused Ehlers of stealing scratch-off tickets while working.
According to the affidavit, the investigator was shown surveillance footage of the gas station where Ehlers was observed trying to find the winning ticket and scratching it off before paying for it.
Once Ehlers scratched the winning ticket worth $300,000, he paid for it, which is in direct violation of Nebraska law, which states that no credit shall be extended by the lottery game retailer for the purchase of a ticket.
Investigators seized $128,769 in Ehlers' bank accounts. According to the affidavit, they determined that the remaining $84,230 was used for two vehicles, contractor services and multiple payments to creditors.
Ehlers is being held at the Lancaster County jail.
