Lottery theft ends in guilty plea

receive two years of probation following a guilty plea for the theft of Iowa Lottery tickets stemming from charges filed in July.

According to court documents, on June 30, Derek E. Fowler, 28 at time of arrest, stole approximately 53 Iowa Lottery tickets from Hy-Vee Fast and Fresh, 518 W. McLane St., a total loss in value to Hy-Vee in the amount of $1,390; Fowler was employed there at the time.

Between the times and dates of 7:49 p.m., June 30 and 8:05 a.m., July 1, Fowler redeemed 17 of the stolen lottery tickets, causing a loss to the Iowa Lottery in the amount of $802. He redeemed three tickets at the Osceola Hy-Vee Fast and Fresh, eight at Osceola Walmart and the remainder at unspecified Casey’s General Stores in Osceola. Fowler was arrested on a warrant July 11, during which he physically resisted arrest and was charged with interference with official acts.

In total, Fowler was charged with 17 counts of lottery - forgery or theft of ticket, a Class D felony, and two counts of third degree theft, an aggravated misdemeanor offense. Fowler’s bond was set at $89,000.

He entered a plea of not guilty at his July 31 arraignment with a jury trial scheduled to begin Nov. 24. That same day, Fowler also filed an oral motion for bond review. The court granted his motion, and Fowler was released on his own recognizance conditional to a supervised pretrial release and monitoring with a GPS tracking device.

After an order for continuance was issued moving the Nov. 24 jury trial to March 23, 2026, a pretrial conference was held Dec. 4. At that time, Fowler entered a waiver of rights and a written guilty plea. In his guilty plea, Fowler pleaded guilty to amended counts for the first five lottery theft to five counts of fraudulent practice in the third degree, an aggravated misdemeanor in violation of Iowa Code Section 714.11(1)(c) and (2). Those two code sections read, “1. Fraudulent practice in the third degree is the following: c. A fraudulent practice where it is not possible to determine an amount of money or value of property and services involved,” and “2. Fraudulent practice in the third degree is an aggravated misdemeanor.”

As part of the plea, Fowler would be sentenced to two years, suspended, consecutive to each count for a total of 10 years incarceration. The plea agreement requested the sentence to be suspended with two years probation, an $855 fine plus 15% surcharge per count, court costs and restitution with the fines for counts III, IV and V to be suspended. He would no longer be monitored via GPS.

The State moved to amend Fowler’s charges and accepted his plea Dec. 4. Per Fowler’s request, he was sentenced immediately with a suspended sentence following a success probation period. The courts dismissed counts VI through XIX. Bond on appeal was set at $10,000.