By Todd Northrop
RALEIGH, N.C. — Less than two weeks after a North Carolina community college student smiled for the cameras and cashed in on a winning $1 million lotto ticket, police say it wasn't hers to claim.
"It's honestly just luck," Mikala Fields said as she accepted her prize July 2. "You actually can win."
But luck had nothing to do with it, according to a North Carolina Education Lottery investigation. The Lottery accused Fields of conspiring with her husband, Sean Mewherter, who works at the local Kangaroo Express and is accused of stealing the winning ticket.
Oak Island police have arrested Mewherter and charged him with larceny and possession of stolen goods over $100,000. The charges were announced by the N.C. Education Lottery.
Lottery officials said that after the award was announced, they were contacted by Mewherter's employer, Kangaroo Express in Oak Island, where he allegedly obtained the ticket. An investigation led to the charges and his arrest by police there.
"A lot of safeguards are in place to ensure lottery prizes are honestly won," Alice Garland, executive director of the NCEL, said in a statement Wednesday. "In this case, lottery players didn't get the chance they should have had to win that prize. So when the money is recovered it will be used as prize money in a future instant game."
No charges have been filed against Fields. When she accepted the prize, she opted for the after-tax lump sum, which rounded out to about $408,000. She told the lotto she planned to use the cash to buy a new home, a car and fund her nursing degree. Officials haven't said whether the couple managed to spend any of the cash before police intervened.
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Wonder how they conspired to find that winning ticket to begin with? What busy little bees they were.
No more honey for them.
Who did the winning ticket belong too ?
I was wandering how he knew it was a winning ticket..
Did someone try micro-scratching?
Let the conspiracy theories begin.
....oh, the deviousness of some people!
How were they caught? I am confused how they knew it was a false win????
Smart store owner. The commission isn't worth ruining your business reputation.
I suspect that NC-EL is not about to reveal it right now. In the courts though the lottery commission will have to present its evidence to the judge and jury.
If it is a case of stealing a winning ticket from a customer then the lottery commission can rest easy. If its the infamous "micro scratching" then its a nightmare for the lottery commission because of all the publicity. Firstly, many dishonest and or underpaid store clerks nationwide will be tempted to do it seeing that these two almost got away with it.
Its going to be interesting to see how it unfolds.
that person probably knew somebody at the ncel and they knew where the ticket was going and the ticket number. does that seem farfetched in today's society?
If that was the case (If the N.C. lotto decides to reveal this publicly), hope that doesn't start a widespread trend among crooked clerks to go having
a field day at our expense.
If this is becoming an epidemic, might be time for the scratchers to be re-designed to make then tamper proof.
Not at all. An inside job actually seems very plausible pick4master. That being the case, it seems only logical that the NCEL "mole"
, was also
promised a piece of the action.
The plot thickens!
Tamper-proof scratch tickets!
I can just imagine how they'd muck that up, like they did with "Child-proof" caps on medicine. Should've called them "Prove-you're-a-child caps", 'cause now the oldsters have to get their grandkids to open the bottles for them.
surely they would not have crooked people that worked for the ncel, would they???
Half the time I can't get the dam things open!
Perhaps an individual lock mechanism with each ticket, which requires an optic scan of your eye to open.
Anyone working at the retail establishment, would be required to have their optic scan on file, to render any stolen tickets useless.
Lordy, lordy no!!!
Just your garden variety of typical sleaze ball, low life, on the take, scum sucking government scamsters. 
400 plus after taxes? whewwwww........
What is the big deal?!
Obama steals everyday!
Never ending supply of cheaters.
I'm pretty sure their all mass produced at cheater factories somewhere in D.C.
not as much as bernie madoff and the rest of the boys on wallstreet.
The article is not about the US president Barack Obama, and your blatant accusation: " Obama steals everyday!" is baseless, unsurportable , cowardly and simply false.
There are means and mechanisms in place that allows you under the freedom of speech, and under the provisions of the law to vend your quarrels with the Obama administration, and this forum is beyond the scope of providing you the education for the realization of this releif.
It suffices however to note and to bring to your attention that this writer finds no maturity, class, style or sophistication in your gross reduction, and attempted hijack of the lottery theft story, and daring to convert it into a political and extra-judicial un-verifiable condemnation of the US president Barack Obama.
Your re-direction of the lottery theft topic is in effect, an implicit belief on your part that the readers of the Lottery Post are naive and poorly informed, and can be easily lured into joining you into a wholesale blanket condemnation of a President that is doing his best, at the Job that the majority of voters have empowered him to do
Your comments about president Barack Obama echoes your other hostile un-warranted comments about the NAACP a few days ago in the Lottery Post
I hope that these comments may impel upon you to consider the application of truth, maturity, fairness and justice in your comments about presdient Barack Obama and the NAACP and I hope that these are not pre-empted by a call-to-arms from you for the banning of the writer because you disagree with him, as the writer has often seen calls like that, made in these posts by veteran posters.
I agree with your comment fact.but we can all read between the lines on why some the members here attack president obama with baseless rants. I never hear anything about our vp and still wouldn't if he were the president.some of these guys live in 1780.look at the ad for obama to your left.makes ya say hmmmmmmmm.
Factor, I'd like to hire you as my attorney, WOW!
first things first...what an awesome post!
secondly, these people are all over internet, day and night, blaming obama for the smallest little thing that goes wrong their life. Never has a president been so disrespected.
i feel so sorry for the president that, i am hoping for a romney victory. I am dead serious!! Maybe they will shut the heck up!!!!!!
So, if she conspired with her husband to steal the ticket, why isn't she arrested as well? Why does she get a pass????