POCATELLO — A 37-year-old local woman wanted for failing to adhere to the conditions of her pretrial release stemming from allegations she stole thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets was recently arrested.

Melissa Kathryn Brucks, of Chubbuck, was arrested shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday after an arrest warrant was issued for her in February in connection to a pretrial release violation, according to court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

Brucks was criminally charged in November with one count of burglary, one count of possession of a controlled substance — meth — and 25 counts of presenting an illegally obtained Idaho Lottery ticket, all felonies, court records say.

The investigation into Brucks began on Nov. 22, 2021, when the manager of a local gas station contacted Pocatello police to report the theft of several thousand dollars worth of InstaPlay lottery tickets, according to Pocatello police reports the Journal recently obtained.

The manager learned of the theft of the lottery tickets after being contacted by a representative with the Idaho Lottery, police said.

Brucks was an employee of the gas station at the time and the gas station manager had pinpointed the time of the fraudulent thefts to have occurred while she was the only person working, police said.

The manager provided police with numerous printouts that showed Brucks issued InstaPlay tickets on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 totaling nearly $3,000 and the business never received any payment for the tickets.

The manager contacted the police again on Nov. 24 and explained Brucks showed up to work early that day and was currently printing more lottery tickets out and handing them to a man inside the store, which she observed while watching a live feed of the business’ security camera footage on her mobile device, police said.

Police responded to the business and came into contact with Brucks and the man whom she was handing lottery tickets to, who was identified as Frank Wayne Young, 31, of American Falls. Brucks informed officers upon arrival that she was in possession of drug paraphernalia and following a search of her person officers located meth and a meth pipe, police said. Officers searched Young and recovered over 20 lottery tickets from his person that were not paid for, police said.

The manager of the gas station also provided officers with nearly 100 InstaPlay lottery tickets that had been printed on Nov. 24 and were located in a trash bin behind the cash register where she observed Brucks printing other lottery tickets, police said.

Young later admitted to police that he was cashing the stolen lottery tickets at numerous locations in the Pocatello area, resulting in him receiving about $800 in cash, police said.

Both Brucks and Young were charged with felony burglary and over 20 counts of presenting an illegally obtained Idaho Lottery ticket, arrested and booked into the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.

On Nov. 26, Brucks was released to pretrial court services with a $10,000 bond. On Dec. 26, the bond amount was eliminated and she was released from jail on her own recognizance. Brucks was ordered to complete mandatory drug and alcohol testing, of which she tested positive for alcohol once and meth once between December and February, resulting in her pretrial release being revoked and a warrant issued for her arrest on Feb. 23, according to court records.

Brucks was arrested by Bannock County Sheriff’s Office deputies in American Falls on Thursday and incarcerated at the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello with no bond.

Her case is set to go to trial in June unless previously mediated.

The penalty for burglary convictions in Idaho range from at least one and up to 10 years in prison as well as a $50,000 fine. If convicted of the felony possession of meth charge, Brucks faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Each of the more than 20 felony presenting an illegally obtained Idaho Lottery ticket charges carry a maximum prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $25,000, meaning Brucks could potentially spend the rest of her life in prison if convicted of all charges against her and all sentences are ordered to be served one after another, or consecutively.