Banned lottery retailers gets tickets

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Lottery mistakenly sent scratch-off tickets to a retail outlet barred from participating in the statewide game.<br/><br/>On Oct. 11, the Oklahoma Lottery Commission decided

Monday, November 28th 2005, 10:06 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Lottery mistakenly sent scratch-off tickets to a retail outlet barred from participating in the statewide game.

On Oct. 11, the Oklahoma Lottery Commission decided to ban pawn shops, payday loan stores and check-cashing businesses from selling tickets. Officials said many of the people who frequent these establishments are in need of money and shouldn't be targeted as lottery customers.

However, Nels Bentson, who owns 11 Cashland payday loan stores throughout Oklahoma has been receiving scratch-off tickets from the lottery. He has been holding the tickets.

He also said his stores have received certificates authorizing them as official lottery retailers and the lottery's Web site lists his stores as authorized ticket locations.

In the past two weeks, the commission sent boxes of holiday-themed scratch-off tickets to Cashland locations in Edmond, Tulsa and Midwest City.

Each contained $5,400 in tickets and a letter signed by the commission's executive director, Jim Scroggins.

Scroggins said an assistant attorney general had advised him not to comment on the situation because Bentson has threatened a lawsuit.

Bentson recently sent the commission a letter demanding $4,475 for his application fees and for wages and mileage he paid for his store managers to attend lottery training.