[marshmallow]

The lady has "issues", as they say these days.

[Hank Rearden]

Well, I'm shocked.

[dead]

She did it for her kids. Therefore, she's innocent.

[AppyPappy]

Same topic, different article

[Support Free Republic]

If you don't make a donation to Free Republic, then that's one more thing you have in common with Patrick Leahy.

[b4its2late]

Golly! Shazam. Who da thunk? ;-)

[Aliska]

At least she publicly admitted it. True, she was backed into a corner.

[Dialup Llama]

What gets me mad is the liar's lawyer who, if he had any ethics, would not have troubled the true winner by all the statements he made implying that the ticket was actually up for grabs. Also the police should not have stated that the liar's story was credible. Guess they didn't want to be accused of racism so they accommodated the person bringing false witness (who for a time seemed to have the momentum).

[ExpatCanuck]

...she wanted to use the money to help her family and recently laid-off Cleveland police officers.

... and the homeless, and child burn victims, and abandoned puppies...

[doug from upland]

She might have a little nest egg built up for her family if she hasn't had to spend so much money within the criminal justice system.

[BunnySlippers]

I love the line, "Everyone has a past".

[Charles Henrickson]

While working at a Richmond Heights pharmacy in 1999, Battle used a customer's credit card number to make purchases. . . .

Battle was convicted in 2000 in Cleveland Heights of assault for grabbing a drug store clerk's hair and scratching her. . . .

She was convicted of criminal trespassing in 2002. . . .

"I'm not a bad person, I'm really not," she said. "Everyone has a past."

No, not like that.

[tdadams]

Well, knock me over with a feather. I would've never guessed. She seemed so credible.

saying she wanted to use the money to help her family and recently laid-off Cleveland police officers.

Uh, uh. Sure, honey. I think it's a little too late for saving face and sucking up.

[Always Right]

Of course the lady was lying, because I was the one who lost the ticket. The money is mine, I tell ya......mine!!!! ALL MINE!!!! Now pay up, darn it!

[Kenton]

I'm not a bad person, the crack made me do it!"

[Lady Eileen]

Cry me a river.

[Wright is right!]

Her first mistake was not realizing that the various lotteries are virtually scam-proof. They're all set up in such a way as to make what Battle was trying to do impossible. No one is going to pull ANYTHING over on any lottery. There are too many built-in safeguards.

Michael

[brewcrew]

"I'm not a bad person, I'm really not," she said. "Everyone has a past."

Some just have more than others. And some just keep adding to theirs.

[Mr. Mojo]

While working at a Richmond Heights pharmacy in 1999, Battle used a customer's credit card number to make purchases, police said. She paid a $450 fine for misuse of a credit card, and a 10-day jail sentence was suspended.

"Misuse"? How about theft? She should've been tossed in the slam.

[MPJackal]

"Police Lt. Kevin Nietert said Thursday he expected Battle to be charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail".


What about Fraud?

[steve-b]

If Battle had kept up this nonsense -- especially if she had managed to delay payment to the legitimate winner -- she would have greatly damaged the appeal of the lottery. Who daydreams about winning millions of dollars after lengthy court battles, aspersions on one's honesty, and perhaps even direct personal harassment by hordes of scam artists?

The politicians who depend on lotteries as a relatively painless and economically benign (if you're going to tax something, it might as well be stupidity) source of revenue are surely aware of this.

I'll bet that it was made abundantly clear to this huckster that the full prosecutorial machinery of the State of Ohio would be brought to bear if she didn't back off PDQ.