PENSCOLA, Florida (WSVN) — Authorities in Walton County have charged a couple with felony offenses after they allegedly tried to claim a one-million-dollar lottery prize using a fraudulent ticket. Kira Ender and her boyfriend, Dakota Jones, were arrested after presenting what they claimed was a winning $1 million ticket at a Florida Lottery office in Pensacola on March 1, which turned out to be a doctored $50 ticket.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons detailed the couple’s attempt, explaining how they crudely combined parts of two different tickets in hopes of passing them off as one legitimate jackpot winner. However, lottery officials immediately noticed discrepancies such as mismatched text and differing serial numbers on the ticket, which led to further scrutiny.

Further investigations confirmed that the original tickets hadn't won anything. The arrest report noted that Ender had signed an affidavit claiming the ticket was genuine, fully aware of the legal repercussions of such a false declaration.

The stories Ender and Jones told about how they came into possession of the ticket were inconsistent, further arousing suspicion among law enforcement officials. Sheriff Simmons remarked on the quality of their forgery, stating, “If you’re going to try to claim a million dollars, you’ve got to do a lot better than this. You’re not a lottery winner, you’re a criminal.”

The fraudulent scheme began to fully unravel when the couple returned to the lottery office a week later to inquire about their supposed prize, prompting a face-to-face meeting with investigators that confirmed the deception.