Two Mississippi men were arrested after investigators said they doctored a scratch-off lottery ticket to make it appear they had won $100,000.
Odis Latham, 47, and 48-year-old Russell Sparks were arrested by the Flowood Police Department on Monday after the Mississippi Lottery Corporation contacted authorities about a forged ticket, according to WLBT.
Authorities said they used super glue to affix winning numbers to a losing ticket and then went to the Mississippi Lottery office in Flowood in an attempt to cash in.
“It ended up being a counterfeit ticket; it’s what the industry calls a ‘cut-and-paste,’” said Jay Ledbetter, director of security for the Mississippi Lottery Corporation.
“It was visibly a fraud, but we also scanned the front side, back side. We double-checked it, and it was not a winning ticket,” he added. “The only thing that made it a winning ticket was they cut some numbers off a second ticket and super glued them to this one.”
The duo was charged with conspiracy to commit and uttering counterfeit instrument over $1,000. Latham was further charged with false ID information. They are expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
Attempting to fake a lottery ticket is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
