Florida Man’s Scratch-Off Scheme Backfires Spectacularly

• Florida man accused of stealing $7,000 in scratch-offs
• Suspect allegedly tried cashing stolen tickets at same shop
• Later held up 7-Eleven, police say

As far as “Florida man” oddball arrest stories go, police say this caper was almost too on-brand: a man steals thousands of dollars in scratch-off lottery tickets, then promptly tries to cash them in at the very store he robbed – allegedly.

According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, Justin Farley, 43, walked into a Circle K in the city just before 8:30 p.m. on May 5 and left with roughly $7K worth of scratch-off lottery tickets tucked under his arm. Surveillance video captured him exiting without payment, police said.

That should have been the end of it, except Farley returned soon after to redeem the winners at the same Circle K and a nearby 7-Eleven, according to a police report.

None of those attempts were successful, for reasons obvious to anyone familiar with how barcodes work.

No Winning Ticket

Police say the evening then took a darker turn. Defeated in his attempt to cash his tickets, Farley walked into a 7-Eleven on 4th Street North just before midnight, brandished what appeared to be a gun, demanded cash and cigarettes, and forced the clerk into a storage room before fleeing with about $120 and a pack of Newports.

Detectives surveilled Farley for the next two weeks, observing him “wearing the same shoes, jeans, and hat that he wore during the commission of the Circle K lottery ticket burglary,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Faces 20 Years

Farley was detained on May 23 and charged with grand theft and burglary related to the Circle K heist.

He was also federally indicted under the Hobbs Act, a statute used for robberies that affect interstate commerce. If convicted, that charge alone can carry up to 20 years in prison.

In a police interview, Farley admitted taking both the tickets and the cash, saying he “needed money.”

The suspect has a significant criminal history dating back more than 20 years, according to the affidavit. These include past felony convictions for sale of cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, felon in possession of a firearm (x2), and possession of oxycodone.