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Poland lottery worker indicted for stealing tickets
By JOE GORMAN
YOUNGSTOWN
A worker at the local Ohio Lottery office was indicted Thursday by a Mahoning County grand jury.
David Dragelevich, 38, of Nesbitt Drive, Poland, was indicted on a charge of theft in office, a fourth-degree felony.
Assistant Prosecutor Rebecca Doherty said Dragelevich is accused of taking lottery tickets. He was indicted after an investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
He is expected to be arraigned before Judge Maureen Sweeney on Tuesday.
The indictment says the amount of the theft is between $1,000 and $7,500 worth of tickets, and the thefts took place between Sept. 13 and Sept. 24 of this year.
Doherty said the investigation began after investigators were able to trace winning scratch-off tickets from people back to Dragelevich.
Dragelevich works out of the Youngstown office of the lottery commission on West Federal Street downtown.
The Youngstown office is one of nine regional offices for the lottery commission, which is based in Cleveland. It serves eight counties, including Columbiana and Trumbull.
A spokeswoman for the commission said Dragelevich was hired by the lottery on March 26, 2012. He is on paid administrative leave, she said.
A check of court records shows Dragelevich has never faced a criminal charge before.