Wesco manager pleads guilty to embezzling lottery tickets.

Jason Lonsbury with this attorney, Julie Springstead Waltz.

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Wesco manager pleads guilty to embezzling lottery tickets.

By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART — The manager of the Wesco convenience store in New Era pleaded guilty Monday, Oct. 24, in 27th Circuit Court to one felony count of embezzlement $1,000-$20,000.

Jason Timothy Lonsbury, 35, of 2374 W. Pike Rd., New Era testified that he embezzled from the store last June by stealing $20 lottery tickets. Lonsbury told Judge Anthony A. Monton that he was an operations manager for the store.

Lonsbury stole tickets from the New Era store and then cashed them at other locations, Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon said.

Lonsbury’s plea agreement includes a sentence that is not to exceed the midpoint of the sentencing guidelines, which are either 0-3 months or 0-6 months. The prosecution argued that the guidelines are at the higher end. The maximum penalty is five years in prison.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 5 at 9 a.m. Lonsbury is free on a $5,000/cash/surety/10 percent bond.