RALEIGH, N.C. — Maria Juana P. Tolentino, a resident of Candor in Montgomery County, North Carolina, thought she was finished with her family's Christmas on Wednesday. Little did she know that a late gift from her brother, a $5 Mega Bucks lottery ticket, would make her $100,000 richer.
Tolentino was sitting in her living room with her family when she realized she'd won the game's top prize.
"At first I thought it was $100," she said. "We were happy to win that. Then I kept scratching and saw it was much, much bigger. I couldn't believe it."
Tolentino plans to use her winnings, worth $68,001 after taxes are withheld, to make some repairs on her home, share with her children and give some money to her brother. The winning ticket was purchased at the Quik Chek on East Main Street in Biscoe.
As of Friday afternoon, seven top prizes of $100,000 and many other prizes remain unclaimed in the game.
Ticket sales for games such as instant scratch-offs have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.58 billion for education initiatives statewide.
Thanks to Original Bey for the tip.
only 68,000 after taxes? Makes me wanna cry.
I wonder if he would have given it had he known it was $100k winner.......
As I always say........ scan those bar codes before you give a ticket away........
If she figures some hefty deductions, she will get a big return..........
Congratulations to Maria, glad she is sharing with her brother....
They don't have bar codes in nc on scratchers.
You mean its possible to find out if a ticket is a winner before scratching it off? I sure hope not. The store clerks can become overnight millionaires by selling us the losers and keeping the winners to themselves
ahhhh...I'm sure NOT!!
I'm sure she is sharing it with him though. At least I hope she is! If not, I can only imagine the family fued that could possibly lie ahead...perhaps we might see an episode of this in the future on "How the Lottery Changed My Life!" hehehe
I hope he wasn't one of those cheapskates who said they'd sign the back of the ticket before giving it to a relative as a gift.
There are lots of pros and cons about giving scratch-offs as Christmas presents but those against probably never got a fruit cake as a present.I think it was a neat gift that turned into a great gift.
Ohio's scratch-off tickets require the bar codes be scratched clean too before the terminal can tell if they are winners.
i always wrote their name and happy xmas on the back, but after one person told me they had lost the ticket, i thought about registering the ticket when buying it to my player ID incase it gets lost. I may have done it just for that person.
now i just dont bother buying as gifts.
Congrats