A customer walked into a convenience store in Arizona to buy lottery tickets, ran short of cash and left some of them behind. By the next morning, one of those unpaid tickets had become a multimillion-dollar mystery. A store manager who discovered that it matched all six winning numbers decided to buy it himself after clocking out, removing his uniform and paying $10. The ticket was worth nearly $12.8 million. But instead of collecting a fortune, the employee found himself in a legal battle with his former employer, Circle K, over who actually owned the winning slip. Now, nearly a year after the drawing, a judge has allowed the dispute to move forward, according to a report by NBC Palm Springs, although the question of who gets the money remains unanswered.
The case centres on Robert Gawlitza, a former manager at a Circle K convenience store near 56th Street and Bell Road in Scottsdale, Arizona. The winning ticket belonged to The Pick, an Arizona Lottery game in which players must match six numbers drawn to win the jackpot. According to court filings, the incident began on November 24, 2025, when a customer asked a store employee to print $85 worth of lottery tickets. She paid $60 but did not have enough money to cover the remaining $25 worth. The unpaid tickets were left at the store. That evening, the lottery announced its winning numbers, and one of the tickets left behind matched all six.
Manager clocked out before buying the ticket
When Gawlitza arrived for work the following morning, he learnt that a winning ticket had been printed at his store. He checked the remaining tickets and discovered that one was the jackpot winner. According to Circle K's lawsuit, he then clocked out, removed his uniform and asked another employee, Marline Ybarra, to ring up the purchase. Gawlitza paid $10 and received a receipt. He also signed the back of the winning ticket, with Ybarra reportedly signing it as well. The former manager later maintained that he had followed an established store practice requiring employees to purchase accidentally printed or unpaid lottery tickets. His lawyer, Josh Kolsrud, argued that the company had an unofficial policy under which workers were expected to buy tickets accidentally printed in excess of $20. The practice allegedly helped the retailer avoid losses from tickets that customers did not pay for. In July, Gawlitza's legal team submitted affidavits from six current and former employees who reportedly supported his account of the policy. Gawlitza said he had purchased the ticket legitimately and that the company challenged his ownership only after discovering its value. He and Ybarra had also agreed to split the winnings equally, according to their lawyer.
Circle K is challenging the win
Circle K, however, has a different interpretation of what happened. The company argues that the tickets were printed at its store but never validly sold to the customer or the manager. It has cited Arizona Lottery administrative rules that give retailers ownership of tickets that are overprinted or remain unsold. In February 2026, the convenience store chain filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court, asking a judge to determine who legally owns the winning ticket and is entitled to the prize. The company has said the lawsuit is intended to clarify ownership rather than target a particular employee. There is another complication: the original customer, identified in court documents as Kim, has also emerged as a potential claimant. The central question is whether she abandoned the unpaid tickets or merely left them behind after being unable to pay for the full order. That distinction could prove important in determining whether she retained any claim to the winning ticket. The Arizona Lottery has been holding the prize while the legal dispute plays out. A judge previously extended the deadline for claiming the jackpot, which would otherwise have expired under the lottery's usual 180-day rule.
Judge allows the ownership battle to continue
The latest development came on November 6, when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer ruled that the legal case could proceed. However, he narrowed the immediate proceedings to the question of who owns the winning ticket. Most of the other claims, including those connected to the former manager's employment dispute, have been put on hold until the ownership issue is resolved. Gawlitza has also challenged the company's decision to fire him after the incident, arguing that he followed the store's established procedures. Circle K, meanwhile, maintains that the ticket was never validly transferred to him. The court will have to determine whether the $10 transaction constituted a legitimate purchase and whether the original customer or retailer retained ownership. For now, the nearly $12.8 million prize remains out of reach.
