A Nebraska gas station manager who reportedly won $300k on a lottery scratch-off, allegedly before purchasing the ticket, seeks dismissal of his case due to insufficient evidence. 

Jeremiah Ehlers of Greeley, Neb., is charged with felony theft by deception for falsely claiming a lottery win in April 2024. 

His Diamond Dollars ticket victory was first commemorated by the Nebraska Lottery, and Ehlers was seen beaming with the oversized novelty check. 

 

Warning Signs 

However, gas station employees who win jackpots often alert lottery officials due to their direct access to unsold scratch-off tickets. There have been cases where store staff scan a customer's ticket, notice it’s a winner, then tell the customer it isn't, later retrieving it from the trash. 

The victory undoubtedly raised suspicions for the district manager of Rapid Stop, who, at the time of the jackpot win, already believed Ehlers had been pilfering lottery tickets since October 2023 from the Greeley location where he was employed. 

The district manager examined surveillance video from the store that recorded Ehlers taking a Diamond Dollars ticket without making a payment, as stated in court records. He then scraped it off, scanned it (two times), and seemingly concluded that this specific ticket was worth spending $30 on. 

Nebraska law requires that all tickets be paid for prior to being played. Prosecutors claim Ehlers reversed the procedure. 

Ehlers won the award on April 23, 2024, taking home $213K post-tax, and was dismissed from his position a week after. 

 

Ehlers Detained 

Ehlers was taken into custody in January 2025. Authorities confiscated almost $129K from his bank accounts, but he had already utilized approximately $84,000 on vehicles, such as a 2019 Dodge Ram, home renovations, and personal obligations, according to court documents. On May 28, a judge decided there was sufficient evidence for the case to move forward to district court. 

However, his attorney claims that none of this adds up. This week, the lawyer submitted a motion in Lancaster County District Court, claiming that the evidence shown during the preliminary hearing was inadequate and did not demonstrate probable cause. The motion requests that the court fully dismiss the accusation. 

A hearing for that motion is set for July 29. Until that time, Ehlers' $300K victory – or what remains of it – stays in a state of legal uncertainty.