The Region - News from Feb. 7, 1986

A La Mirada man was arrested in Placentia for allegedly trying to sell an altered, winning $50,000 lottery ticket. The case marks the first time someone has been arrested on suspicion of trying to sell a forged ticket instead of trying to cash it in, lottery officials said. In Orange County, lottery security agents arrested Gerald O. Miller, 39, who allegedly told a woman he met at the La Mirada Mall that he would meet her in Placentia to sell her a winning $50,000 ticket for $10,000, lottery agent Wayne Mackley said. Miller told the woman that he was a Vietnam veteran “angry at the government” and, because he owed back taxes that would be taken from the winnings, he was looking for someone who would buy the ticket, the agent said. After the woman notified lottery officials, Mackley posed as her brother and met Miller. Two other agents assisted in the arrest.