Hunter
12/30/22
An area transient is in custody after allegedly stealing lottery tickets and cashing in the winners at an Iowa City convenience store.
According to the arrest reports, 32-year-old Jeffrey Naughton came into Kirkwood Liquor and Tobacco the evening of December 4th on three different occasions with the stolen tickets. He redeemed a total of 15 winners that day. He reportedly came back the following afternoon and redeemed another four winners. Then on the morning of December 6th he allegedly redeemed 26 winners.
On December 7th, Naughton reportedly redeemed two winners and tried to redeem another 13, but by that time they had been flagged in the lottery system as stolen and he was denied.
Authorities say Naughton stole the tickets during a burglary at the Iowa City Eagles Club on an undisclosed date. Naughton was positively identified as the person redeeming the tickets by a unique tattoo on his neck that spells D-T-A.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on Thursday morning; he was picked up shortly thereafter and charged with five counts of Lottery Ticket Theft. If convicted, Naughton could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.