Sheriff: Woman arrested after cashing in more than 200 stolen lottery tickets | Crime

Lexington County Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested a Lexington woman they say cashed in more than 200 stolen South Carolina Education Lottery tickets.

Officers arrested and charged 25-year-old Jessica Leigh Shealy Peralta on Wednesday, August 1 with defrauding the South Carolina Education Lottery by cashing in 226 stolen South Carolina Education Lottery tickets, which were worth a total of $2,260.

Deputies say Peralta stole the lottery tickets while she was employed as a clerk at the C-Mart convenience store at 658 Two Notch Road on July 16.

Peralta cashed in the tickets herself while operating a cash register at the convenience store, the report stated.

According to Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts, Peralta turned herself in to authorities at 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, on arrest warrants on eight counts of defrauding the South Carolina Education Lottery.

Peralta was being held on Wednesday at the Lexington County Detention Center while awaiting a bond hearing.

Peralta is scheduled to appear in court at 3 p.m. on Wednesday for a bond hearing.

Under South Carolina law, defrauding the South Carolina Education Lottery is a felony, which carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $50,000 fine, Metts said.

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