A 32-year old Antioch man, Ryan Anderson, has pleaded guilty to operating an intricate theft ring that made away with $95,565 in California State Lottery tickets and collected $59,105 in prize money, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.
Apprehended yesterday, Anderson admitted to piloting a criminal operation that targeted a large number of convenience and grocery stores across seven counties in Northern California, including Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Stanislaus. The heists took place between March 27, 2022, and October 25, 2022.
Deploying tactics of distraction, Anderson and his team moved swiftly, stealing California Lottery Scratchers at one store and cashing in the winning tickets at another. An end came to these crimes as Anderson found himself in custody.
In a cooperative effort, Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office led the prosecution of Anderson, as state laws allowed them to prosecute crimes that crossed county borders. District Attorney Diana Becton expressed the determination to fight organized retail crime, stating, "We will continue to work with our retailers and all of our state and local justice partners to hold these offenders accountable with arrest, prosecution, conviction, incarceration, and full restitution."
According to the California State Lottery, these crimes have inadvertently victimized not just the lottery, but also its retail partners—comprising small, independently-owned businesses that rely on the sale of lottery games to thrive. It is also a disservice to public schools that would have received some of the stolen funds.
Following his guilty plea, Anderson has agreed to serve a three-year sentence in state prison, admit to probation violations, and pay full restitution to the California State Lottery.
