BORDERLAND

Store clerk convicted in $322,000 lottery theft

11/8/2013

A Toledo man who stole $322,000 worth of lottery tickets from a convenience store where he worked pleaded no contest Thursday to aggravated theft.

Samer Ahmed Musa, 32, of 2823 Floex Dr., was then found guilty by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook, who placed him on community control for two years. As part of his probation, Musa was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, spend two more months on electronic monitoring, submit to random urinalysis, and have no contact with the victim.

Charles McDonald, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said that while Musa was employed by NZR Retail, a local carryout chain, he stole the lottery tickets, and cashed in winning tickets at other stores or gave them to other individuals to cash in for him.

Asked by the judge why he stole the tickets, Musa said he did it “pretty much out of spite” because his father had once owned the convenience store but that it was taken away from him, resulting in a large financial loss.