Tiffin convenience store employee accused of keeping winning lottery tickets and redeeming them elsewhere

Lang
3/23/25

A Tiffin convenience store employee is accused of keeping a pair of winning lottery tickets and cashing them in himself.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says 42-year-old Matthew Richards of RJ Drive was working at the Casey’s on Stephans Street just after 5:30 on the morning of February 4th when a customer presented him with two winning Iowa Lottery tickets. One was worth $30, and the other $70. Investigators say Richards intentionally mis-scanned the two tickets and gave the customer $100 out of the register. Richards allegedly threw the tickets away, then later recovered them from the trash and redeemed them at an area Hy-Vee.

Richards is charged with Lottery Fraud and 4th Degree Theft. If convicted on both counts, he faces a maximum of six years in prison.