4 individuals are now up on charges of felony theft and forgery. The lottery sting covered 60 different locations. When ticket holders would hand the ticket to the clerk, they were told they were not a winner, when in fact they were.

A recent sting by the Colorado Department of Revenue and the Lottery Enforcement Division show that some store employees were trying to take those big winnings to keep for themselves, as KKCO reports.

4 people across Mesa County now facing felony theft and forgery charges after being caught in a sting operation. The sting was put into action at about 60 locations across the county. This was to simply ensure that the clerks were being honest when someone checked their tickets.

The Undercover officers that were involved in the sting,  would bring a winning ticket of 5 or 10 thousand dollars and hand the ticket to the clerk, just as you and I would do if we had a lottery ticket.

According to the Mesa County District Attorney:

At 3 of the stores, the clerks lied and told the consumer that they did not have a winning ticket when in fact they did.

In every instance that the clerk told an individual that they had not won, the next day would take the ticket and try to cash it in at the lottery commission, according to Authorities.

The district attorney's office said William Stenhouse appeared in court on Monday on his advisement of the charges and will be released on a $1,000 bond.

He was an employee of the Shell Station at 403 Jurassic Avenue in Fruita. Megan Stenhouse, Tracy Salyer, and Jakob Eisenhauer were also charged in the investigation according to KKCO. They will be seen in court at a later date, and the establishment where they worked has not been released.

The Mesa County District Attorney said it is encouraged at the number of people in this county, who were given an opportunity to take the money and did not do so. He went on to say that the operation should serve as a reminder of the high standards that the Colorado Lottery holds its sites too.

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