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South Carolina authorities say a man stole a pack of lottery scratch-off tickets during a job interview at a Florence gas station — then spent the next few minutes trying to cash them in before he was even out of the parking lot.
Antonio Levon Ricardo Stewart, 36, of Galivants Ferry, is now facing felony charges more than a year after the alleged theft, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
SLED says Stewart took a pack of South Carolina Education Lottery scratch-off tickets from a Murphy USA store in Florence while there for a job interview on May 6, 2025. Arrest warrants allege surveillance footage captured the theft as it happened.
Cashiers flagged the unactivated lottery ticket pack
Investigators say Stewart then tried to redeem tickets from the stolen pack at three Florence-area convenience stores: Friendly Neighbor, Refuel and Carolina C-Store, according to warrant details reported by WBTW News13.
Cashiers at two of the stores scanned several tickets but refused to pay out because the pack had never been activated by a retailer — a step lottery terminals require before any ticket in a pack can be validated as sold. One ticket did clear, and Stewart collected a $5 cash prize, SLED said.
The South Carolina Education Lottery asked SLED to investigate, and agents obtained an arrest warrant later that month. Stewart wasn’t taken into custody until Aug. 25, 2026 — nearly 16 months later. He was booked into the Florence County Detention Center and released the next day on a $15,000 bond, WBTW reported.
Felony charges now head to court
Stewart faces three counts of intent to defraud involving counterfeit game tickets, SLED said in a news release. The 12th Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute the case.
Under South Carolina law, each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $50,000 fine, or both. A conviction would also bar Stewart from claiming South Carolina lottery prizes or working for the state lottery commission.
SLED has not released additional details beyond the arrest warrants and charging announcement, and no trial date had been set as of early September. Stewart could not be reached for comment.
The case is expected to turn on the Murphy USA surveillance footage and lottery validation records that investigators say trace the tickets back to an unactivated pack.
