Lottery thief nabbed faces up to 15 years

A man with face tattoos who used fake money to buy winning lottery tickets from a vendor on Northwest Boulevard in Coeur d’Alene is in jail facing three felonies.

Raymond L. Horn a petty criminal with an extensive history in Idaho, who lives part time in Spokane, is accused of using $500 of phony money to buy winning lottery tickets that were cashed at quick stops throughout Coeur d’Alene.

He is in the Kootenai County jail on $50,000 bail facing six counts of forgery, burglary and seven counts of presenting stolen lottery tickets.

Forgery and burglary carry penalties of between 10 and 15 years in prison. A conviction for presenting stolen lottery tickets can result in a five-year sentence.

Police said Horn used $500 worth of counterfeit bills that carried the logo “For Motion Picture Purposes,” to buy tickets valued at $5, $20 and $30 as well as a box of cigarettes at the Exxon Jifi Stop on the 200 block of W. Appleway, then chased the tickets at vendors including TAJ Groceries on the 1000 block of 15th Street.

Surveillance videos at both stores showed a man with tattoos on the right side of his face, wearing a gray hoodie, a white shirt and a large cross necklace, large drive up in a white 1999 Saturn with a Kootenai County license plates.

Police traced the car back to an address on the 500 block of N. 15th Street where they found Horn living in a downstairs rental unit. Police served a warrant and found drug paraphernalia, liquor and bullets that Horn said did not belong to him. Horn was on supervised probation for a previous conviction, but had not been in contact with a probation officer since Sept. 2019, according to a police report.

Police suspect a Jifi Stop employee conspired with Horn when he exchanged the phony bills for the lottery tickets. The second suspect has not been arrested.

Conspiring to defraud the lottery commission is also a felony with penalties of up to five years behind bars.

Horn’s previous conviction is for grand theft. His charges in other cases are for burglary, petit theft and drugs.

A May 5 preliminary hearing is scheduled in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court.