Report: Director Gave Trooper Lottery Tickets After Traffic Stop

[The Straight Story]

Report: Director Gave Trooper Lottery Tickets After Traffic Stop

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A report released Tuesday by Inspector General Tom Charles said Ohio Lottery Commission Director Michael Dolan showed improper judgment in giving 100 lottery tickets to a state trooper who stopped him for a possible traffic violation.

According to the inspector general's report, a trooper pulled Dolan over on Interstate 71 on Jan. 26 for driving without a front license plate. The trooper issued Dolan a warning for the missing plate and for failing to wear a seat belt.

Two days later, Dolan sent a letter to the trooper in which he thanked him for his courtesy and enclosed 100 promotional lottery tickets, the report said.

In his report, Charles wrote that Dolan's actions were "unacceptable" and set the tone for other lottery commission employees.

"Regardless of his intent, the act of him providing promotional lottery tickets to the trooper can be perceived as an attempt to influence a public official by providing gifts or gratuities," Charles wrote.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/03/31/story_lottery.html?sid=102