FORMER LOTTERY EMPLOYEE GUILTY OF STOREHOUSE BREAKING AND THEFT

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Thomas M. Barnes, 43, of 3113 Phelps Lane, Baltimore, pled guilty in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to felony theft, conspiracy to commit second burglary, and exceeding authorized access to a computer, in connection with the August 17 and 25, 2001, breaking and entering of a Maryland State Lottery warehouse and theft of scratch-off instant ticket books. The Honorable Paul A. Smith imposed a 3-year suspended sentence and placed Barnes on 3 years supervised probation and ordered restitution of $12,900 to the Maryland State Lottery.

Barnes is currently employed at Worldwide Flight Services, Inc. at BWI Airport. At the time of the offense, he was a Maryland State Lottery employee who worked in a warehouse then located at 1329 Western Avenue in Baltimore. Barnes stated he joined a former lottery employee, Darryl Kane, in a scheme whereby Kane would transport Barnes to the lottery warehouse and Barnes would use his security swipe card to gain entry after hours. Once in the warehouse, he used Kane's former password to access the lottery computer terminal to activate books of scratch-off instant ticket books, charging them to a lottery agent in Baltimore County. The winning tickets were cashed at various locations in the county. Within days of the August 25 incident, lottery officials became suspicious when a lottery agent inquired about a large number of tickets he cashed the evening of one of the burglaries and found that one group of tickets were a new game that had not been released to the public. The lottery's internal investigation revealed that Barnes was captured on videotape entering the warehouse, and a review of the security logs confirmed he used his swipe card to make entry. Barnes admitted to lottery officials he had been in the warehouse after hours and was immediately terminated.

In a subsequent interview with the Maryland State Police, Barnes said that the scheme began at least one year earlier and continued throughout his employment at the lottery, that Kane was the mastermind, that it was Kane's password that was used to activate the ticket books, and that Kane gave him money and sometimes tickets for his participation. Darryl Kane, 46, ceased working at the lottery in May, 2001. There is an outstanding bench warrant for Kane's failure to appear on charges relating to the same offense. Kane's last known address is 5505 Seward Avenue, Baltimore. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts should contact the Maryland State Police at the Office of the Attorney General.

The case was referred by Principal Counsel to the State Lottery, and investigated by the Maryland State Police, the State Lottery, the Office of Legislative Audits and the Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Investigations Division.

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