McDonald’s Game Convictions Overturned
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The convictions of four men in a multimillion-dollar scheme to cash in on stolen winning tickets in McDonald’s Corp. games such as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” were voided by a federal appeals court in Florida.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found “a complete failure of proof” on the conspiracy charge each man faced.
The four were sentenced in January 2003 as part of a long-running case that prosecutors say involved more than $20 million in fraudulently redeemed game pieces.