Ex-Fayette County Official and $30M Powerball Winner Accused of Stealing $73K for Gambling

Georgianna M. Carter, 58, the former vice president of Point Marion’s parks committee and co-winner of a $30.6 million Powerball jackpot back in 2002, is accused of taking over $73,000 from the borough to fund her gambling habit.

Former Parks Committee President Accused of Embezzling $73K for Gambling

Carter was charged earlier this week with felony theft after Fayette County detectives reported that she made numerous withdrawals and transactions from the Point Marion Borough Park Commission’s bank account. Between April 2021 and August 2022, a total of $73,183 was allegedly taken from the account. 

Court documents show that Mayor Carl Ables Jr. first noticed irregularities in August 2022 when invoices for the annual Point Marion Regatta went unpaid. Upon reviewing the park commission’s account, he discovered numerous transactions that were not “legitimate municipal expenses,” including payments and transfers made directly to Carter.

Ables reported the matter to the Point Marion Police Department, which launched an investigation. According to court documents, officers confronted Carter with the evidence, and she admitted to the theft. However, no formal police report was filed, and Carter was not charged at the time after being removed from the commission.

The case then stayed unresolved for roughly three years. However, when incoming Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele met with Point Marion officials last year, questions started to be asked again. This eventually led to Detective Steven Kontaxes and an FBI agent interviewing Carter in August, 2025.

Carter again admitted to the theft during the interview. However, she claimed her partner, Robert Cogar, had already reimbursed the borough, according to court documents. However, a review of the borough’s finances showed that Cogar (who is not currently charged with anything) had written only three checks totaling $17,000.

Aubele said investigators were astonished that Carter had won two major jackpots yet still lacked the funds to make the restitution payments she claimed. She is currently free on a $50,000 unsecured bond while awaiting her preliminary hearing before District Judge Daniel Shimshock, scheduled for February 25.

How Much Had Carter Won Previously?

In 2002, Carter won a $30.6 million Powerball jackpot in West Virginia after Cogar purchased a ticket in Morgantown, according to the Associated Press. The couple arrived in a limousine at the West Virginia Lottery headquarters in Charleston to receive their ceremonial check for the $12 million lump-sum payment.

During the ceremony, Carter said the couple’s primary goal with the winnings was to secure their children’s futures, including funding college educations, and to assist their older immediate family members.

Carter also won $100,000 from a Pennsylvania Lottery instant scratch-off ticket purchased at a Point Marion grocery store in October 2011. In a press release, she described her plans for that money as “still up in the air.”