USPS mail carrier stole lotto ticket, cashed $2,600 prize meant for funeral: officials

A mail woman turned in a winning Florida Lottery ticket and collected $2,600 in mid-June, but a month-long investigation revealed it was never hers to win, authorities say.

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Lakaysha Lockhart, 28, of Hollywood, is facing charges of grand theft, dealing in stolen property, filing a false claim for payment, mail theft and two counts of unlawful use of a two-way communications device. Her charges will be split between multiple criminal cases as some offenses happened in different counties.

On June 14, an unknown lotto player bought a Pick 4 ticket at a 7-Eleven in Tampa, Lockhart’s arrest report read. The next day, she checked the ticket and found out she was a winner.

About 40 minutes later, she went to a USPS office to mail the ticket to a family relative in Fort Lauderdale so they could collect the $2,600 price and use it to help pay for a funeral, the report read.

The ticket never made it.

On June 24, the woman alerted the United States Postal Service the ticket she mailed never reached the lotto office, authorities said.

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An investigation revealed that her ticket had been redeemed by Lockhart on June 19 at the Florida Lottery’s Miami District Office. She did not know nor approve of Lockhart collecting the reward.

USPS teamed up with the Florida Lottery to discover that Lockhart, employed as a letter carrier in Oakland Park, had stolen the ticket and then turned it in for the price. Authorities said she admitted to the alleged crime.

“Our players deserve confidence that every Lottery prize is protected through strong security measures and diligent oversight,” said Florida Lottery Secretary Reginald D. Dixon in a statement.

Read more USPS mail carrier stole lotto ticket, cashed $2,600 prize meant for funeral: officials

Lockhart was arrested on July 23. She has since been released from jail.