IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An employee at an Iowa Lottery retailer is charged with stealing a winning $250,000 scratch ticket and working with her boyfriend and mother in an attempt to claim the prize. Investigators say 20-year-old Ashley Bosler worked at Casey’s general store in Sioux Rapids in northwest Iowa. She allegedly scratched the bar code off an instant ticket and determined it was a top prize winner after scanning it.

A prosecutor says Bosler hadn’t paid for the ticket ahead of time and wasn’t old enough to play the lottery, which has a minimum age of 21. Bosler allegedly paid for the ticket later after receiving money from her mother. Her boyfriend, Johnny Long Jr., tried to claim the prize. The lottery didn’t pay after discovering scribbling on the ticket that raised suspicions.