Trio on trial in bogus $2 million lottery claim

Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Ashlee Parsley

Almost exactly two years to the day they were arrested, a jury trial is under way in Marion County this week in the case of three people accused of trying to bilk the Hoosier Lottery out of $2 million.

Two of three suspects alleged to have falsely redeemed a winning Hoosier Lottery scratch-off ticket were arrested April 23, 2015 at Heritage Lake where they reportedly bought a house with their suspected illicit prize money.

Brothers Jackie H. Parsley II, 35, of Avon, and Joseph C. Parsley, 32, of 8 Mill Springs, Coatesville (Heritage Lake), were arrested at the Putnam County home on a Marion County warrant served by Indiana State Police with assistance from Putnam County Sheriff’s Department deputies.

Jackie Parsley II

The winning lottery ticket is believed to have been falsely redeemed by Ashlee Campbell, then the fiancée of Joseph Parsley, whose family owned Parsley’s Liquor store on U.S. 40 in Plainfield. The liquor store at one time was an authorized Hoosier Lottery retailer.

The trial is expected to last three days.

The Marion County prosecutor said the three conspired to cash a bogus $2 million ticket they allegedly stole from their family liquor store. Under state statute, citizens cannot purchase or play a lottery ticket from a family-owned store or from a personally owned business.

Joseph Parsley

Prosecutors said the three suspects bought cars, a big house at Heritage Lake and put more than $500,000 in the bank.

The three suspects all were charged with corrupt business influence (Level 5 felony), false passing of a lottery ticket (Level 5 felony), theft (Level 5 felony), two counts of theft (Class A misdemeanor), four counts of forgery (Level 6 felony) and five counts of money laundering (Level 6 felony).

Additionally, Jackie Parsley II is charged with unauthorized purchase of a lottery ticket by a retailer (Class A misdemeanor).

Ashlee (Campbell) Parsley is also charged with perjury (Level 6 felony) for asserting under oath on the Hoosier Lottery’s Winner Claim Form that as purchaser of the ticket she was not prohibited by law from purchasing a lottery ticket.

A joint investigation between the Hoosier Lottery Security Division and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office Grand Jury Division began in November 2014 when the estate executor for the late owner of Parsley’s Liquor reported his suspicions to the Hoosier Lottery.

The Plainfield store has since been sold and now operates under a new name and owners.

The license to sell lottery products at Parsley’s Liquor was not renewed in June 2014, due to a pending sale of the store. The scratch-off ticket dispensers had been removed, and the lottery terminal was deactivated by the Hoosier Lottery.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the estate executor told investigators he had heard there had been a winning lottery ticket sold from the business. When he researched the winning ticket information, he found Ashlee Campbell had claimed the jackpot of a “100X The Cash” scratch-off game with the top prize of $2 million.

Ashlee Campbell was known to him as the fiancée of Joseph Parsley. The estate executor told authorities that Jackie Parsley II, who was the manager of Parsley’s Liquor and brother of Joseph Parsley, had not told him about a winning ticket being sold and claimed from the packs of tickets owned by Parsley’s Liquor.

The investigation determined that on Sept. 26, 2014, a pack of Hoosier Lottery scratch-off tickets containing one of the game’s top prizes was activated by Jackie Parsley II at Parsley’s Liquor on the store’s newly reactivated terminal. Between Sept. 26 and Oct. 5, seven tickets from the same pack were redeemed for amounts ranging between $20 and $50 at other lottery retailers.

On Oct. 3, 2014, Ashlee Campbell redeemed the lottery ticket with the top prize of $2 million at lottery headquarters in Indianapolis. Video surveillance viewed with the assistance of the U.S. Secret Service computer forensic examination unit confirmed the timeline of events.

Officials said a separate civil forfeiture action has been filed on cash and property believed to be purchased with the Parsleys’ illicit lottery winnings. Investigators have seized three pickup trucks, two SUVs and a box trailer. They have also frozen a bank account worth $550,000 and seized the home being renovated at Heritage Lake.

“We will continue supporting authorities as necessary and will let the justice system run its course,” Hoosier Lottery spokesman Carrie Stroud said. “Throughout the Lottery’s more than 25 years of existence, we have and will continue to update our security procedures to ensure the integrity of the Hoosier Lottery.”

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: