Gambler Embezzles $88K, Wins $96K Grand Prize in 2nd-Chance Drawing

After embezzling some $88,000 from his ex-employer to purchase scratch-off lottery tickets, a former radio executive got some good news during a recent court hearing:

Paul Lyle was told he had won the grand prize, which has an estimated value of $96,000, in a second-chance drawing for those whose scratch-off Kansas Lottery tickets lost the first time around, reports the Joplin Globe. Lottery officials contacted the Crawford County Sheriff's office in an attempt to notify Lyle, who was then tracked down during the court hearing.

While the 63-year-old former chief operating officer of American Media Investments is forfeiting the money as part of the guilty plea he entered yesterday, it may help him avoid a prison sentence because he is now able to pay a significant amount of restitution.

“It’s like being struck twice by lightning, one of which kills you, the second of which revives you,” he tells the newspaper.