Arizona Court to First Resolve Ownership of $12.8 Million Circle K Lottery Ticket Amid Three Competing Claims

A three-way legal dispute over a $12.8 million Arizona Lottery winning ticket has intensified with the entry of a third claimant. The customer who ordered but left the ticket unpaid has joined the existing conflict between a former Circle K store manager and the retailer.

Court records show Soonchun Kim joined the litigation in September. The case pits her against Robert Gawlitza, the ex-manager, and Circle K, which took possession of the ticket after the draw.

Sequence of the Ticket Purchase and Discovery

On Nov. 24, 2025, Kim asked a clerk at a Scottsdale Circle K for $85 worth of $1 tickets for The Pick game. When she realized she carried only $60, she left the remaining 25 tickets unpaid at the counter. One of those tickets matched all six numbers in the evening drawing.

The next morning, Gawlitza discovered the winner among the leftovers. He clocked out, changed out of his uniform, and had cashier Marline Ybarra sell him the leftover tickets for $10, obtaining a receipt. Gawlitza had sought his supervisor's approval by text message before the purchase, without disclosing that one ticket had won.

Gawlitza and Ybarra agreed to divide any winnings equally. Circle K seized the ticket, fired Gawlitza, and filed suit in February seeking a ruling on entitlement to the funds.

Positions in the Ownership Dispute

Circle K's position is that Arizona Lottery rules assign ownership of unsold tickets to retailers and that Gawlitza could not validly purchase the winner after the drawing. Gawlitza maintains he followed a longstanding, unwritten Circle K practice requiring employees to pay for mistakenly printed tickets left unsold. Six current and former employees have submitted statements supporting that account.

Gawlitza has made several counterclaims against his former employer, including wrongful termination. He and Ybarra also contend that Circle K improperly retained the winning ticket. At a Nov. 6 hearing, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer allowed the lawsuit to continue but put most of the employees' other claims on hold. The court will first establish who legally owns the ticket.

The legal basis of Kim's claim to the ticket is unclear. A judge previously extended the claim deadline to prevent the ticket from expiring before ownership could be decided. As reported by Casino.org, the matter remains pending with the core ownership question unresolved.