Circle K Lottery Ticket Lawsuit Over $12.8M Arizona Jackpot

The Circle K lottery ticket lawsuit is a declaratory judgment case filed in Maricopa County Superior Court in February 2026, asking a judge to decide who owns a $12.8 million Arizona Lottery jackpot: the convenience store chain, a former store manager who bought the winning ticket after realizing it was a winner, or the unidentified customer whose transaction produced it. The Arizona Lottery has called the dispute unprecedented, and as of mid-2026 it remains unresolved.¹

How the Ticket Ended Up on the Counter

On November 24, 2025, a customer at a Circle K near 56th Street and Bell Road in Scottsdale asked for $60 in tickets for The Pick, a draw game with a six-number match. The clerk printed $85 worth. The customer paid for $60 and walked out, leaving 25 tickets sitting on the counter.¹

That night’s drawing was worth $12.8 million, and the Arizona Lottery confirmed the winning ticket had been sold at that Scottsdale store.²

What the Manager Did the Next Day

Store manager Robert Gawlitza came in the next day, checked the abandoned tickets, and saw that one of them matched the winning numbers. According to Circle K’s complaint, he clocked out, changed out of his uniform, and had another employee ring him up as a customer for all 25 leftover tickets. He paid $10 for the batch.³¹

Circle K says Gawlitza used “insider knowledge” — he knew which store held the winner and which batch it was in — to secure the prize. Gawlitza has not responded publicly to media inquiries and had not appeared in the case as of mid-2026.¹

What Circle K Is Asking the Court to Decide

Circle K filed a declaratory judgment complaint on February 17, 2026, naming Gawlitza and the Arizona Lottery as defendants. The case number is CV2026-007273.⁴ The company is not simply claiming the money. It is asking the court to declare who the rightful owner is among three possibilities: Circle K itself, Gawlitza, or the mystery customer who left the tickets behind.⁵

The physical ticket is being held at Circle K’s corporate offices. The Arizona Lottery has verified its authenticity and said it will hold the prize until the court sorts out ownership.⁶

The Rule Circle K Is Relying On

Circle K’s argument leans on an Arizona administrative rule for unclaimed draw game tickets. As the Arizona Lottery itself quoted the provision: “If a retailer accepts a returned draw game ticket from a player or generates a draw game ticket refused by the player and the retailer does not resell the ticket, the Lottery shall deem the draw game ticket to be owned by the retailer.”⁴

The company also points out that retailers owe the lottery fees on every ticket printed, whether it sells or not. Under that reading, the 25 abandoned tickets belonged to the store, and Gawlitza had no personal claim to them.⁷

What a Defense Would Have to Show

Gawlitza has not publicly responded, and no lawyer has spoken for him. Criminal defense attorney Josh Kolsrud, speaking to FOX 10, said the pivotal question is whether Gawlitza can prove his purchase was a coincidence and that he did not know the winning ticket was in the batch when he paid for it. Kolsrud said the general principle is that “an employee cannot benefit from insider knowledge by purchasing a winning lottery ticket that they know is at the store.”³

Arizona lottery rules also bar employees from buying tickets while on the clock, which appears to explain why Gawlitza punched out and changed out of his uniform first. Whether those steps convert an insider purchase into a legitimate one is a central question for the court.⁷

The Claim Deadline and the Judge’s Extension

Arizona lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing, which set a hard deadline of May 23, 2026 for the November 24, 2025 jackpot. That was never going to leave enough time for a lawsuit, so Circle K asked the court to keep the deadline from running.⁸

On May 15, 2026, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction extending the claim deadline by another 180 days. At the hearing, he said the case was in “waiting mode” and that the court was “nowhere near” deciding who gets the money.⁶⁹

Why the Case Is Stalled

Two problems are holding the case in place. Circle K has not been able to serve Gawlitza, who no longer works for the company and did not appear at the May hearing.⁹

And the original customer has never been identified. Filings refer to that person only as “Jane or John Doe.” Circle K obtained a court order requiring Bank of America to turn over records that may identify the customer through the payment used for the $60 portion of the sale. As of mid-2026, the customer had not been found or served.⁹⁶

As Judge Kreamer said at the May hearing: “We don’t even have service yet on the parties that need to be present.”⁶

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