CLEARFIELD – A Mahaffey woman pleaded guilty Friday to felony theft for taking over $16,000 worth of lottery tickets from the business where she was working.
Deedra Marie Geer, 34, was sentenced by Judge Paul E. Cherry to serve 90 days to one year in jail with three years concurrent probation.
She must pay restitution of over $11,000 to her former employer in Bell Township.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, an investigation began after the store manager reported that an employee, Geer, was suspected of taking Pennsylvania Lottery tickets without paying for them.
She reported that the first time they noticed was when Geer won $1,000 on a scratch-off ticket. When the manger filed the paperwork for the lottery office, she noticed that the ticket had not been paid for. Further research revealed that there were several unpaid tickets showing up in their system.
The manager then checked the video surveillance footage from Geer’s shift on May 5, 2022 and saw Geer take several scratch-off tickets and scratch them.
During that shift, Geer took over $600 in tickets and won over $1,500. She was also able to observe Geer open the register, take out cash and put it in her pockets.
State police investigators reviewed the footage and records and determined that while Geer was working, there was $16,299 in unpaid lottery ticket sales.
In her interview with police, Geer initially claimed she had proof she paid for the tickets but then admitted she didn’t pay for all the tickets, but did pay for $400 worth.
She admitted she would take the tickets from the counter and scratch them off in the back of the store.
If it was a losing ticket, she would discard it but if it was a winner, she would scan it, and staple the receipt to it. After her shift, she would then turn them in for cash.
Geer estimated that the amount of money she took for winning tickets was $3,600. She claimed she had purchased the $1,000 winner herself but admitted she didn’t have any of the money left.
