The case against Dragelevich, who was a commission employee working as a regional sales representative in North Canton, is pending after he was indicted last month by the Mahoning County Grand Jury. Prosecutors had previously considered allowing Dragelevich to enter a treatment program for substance abusers rather than face going to jail, but he was then charged with a more serious offence of theft in office in 2014.
Meyer’s investigation was prompted by suspicions from the lottery commission that Dragelevich was stealing. It is reported that scratched-off tickets were discovered in his state-issued van. In Meyer’s report, it says that Dragelevich schemed to “manipulate” retailer accounts across different locations in Akron and Youngstown.
It is alleged that he would keep tickets returned from one retailer, mark down that they’d been resold and then cash out winning tickets. Investigators say that the total number of tickets stolen was 5,908, adding up to a value of $115,718. Dragelevich, from the Youngstown suburb of Poland, resigned in January 2014 and is now awaiting the outcome of the case.