Florida landscaper claims $9M Lotto jackpot

Dec 3, 2006, 4:10 pm (6 comments)

Florida Lottery

A Melbourne, Florida, landscaper from Costa Rica has come forward to claim his $9 million Florida Lotto jackpot.

Feliciano Aragon purchased the winning ticket Tuesday at a Melbourne convenience store and was the lone player to match all six numbers, according to lottery officials.

The winning numbers were 9-14-25-37-42-52.

The ticket is the 31st sold in Brevard County to win the jackpot since the Lotto began 20 years ago.

Aragon chose the one-time lump sum payment option for his winnings in the amount of $5,363,540.22.  He purchased his winning Florida Lotto ticket at Hess Express, 3500 S. Bab Street, Melbourne, which will receive a bonus incentive of $20,000 for selling the top prize winning ticket.

According to Aragon, he checked his numbers on a winning number printout he got from a Florida Lottery retailer and discovered he had the winning ticket.

"I didn't believe it," Aragon said.  "I still don't believe it."

Aragon says he plans to use the prize money to help his family — including 15 siblings — in Costa Rica.  He also plans to purchase a new car and a boat to go fishing.

"Keep playing and believe that you can win," Aragon said.  "I've been playing for seven years and had only won $5 — until now."

Aragon is the 31st Florida Lotto winner to purchase a winning ticket in Brevard County.  He is the 864th Florida Lotto winner since 1988.

Total ticket sales for this jackpot generated approximately $6.7 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF).  Since 1988, the Florida Lottery has contributed more than $16 billion to the EETF, benefiting our students and schools, as well as funding more than 300,000 Bright Futures scholarships.  By a two-to-one margin, Florida voters in 1986 approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the state to operate a Lottery for the purpose of generating significant additional moneys for education.

The next Florida Lotto drawing will be held Wednesday, December 6, at 11 p.m. ET with an estimated $6 million jackpot.

Lottery Post Staff

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JackpotWanna's avatarJackpotWanna


Nice story and win.  Never give up. Who knows.....

 

Party

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

Welcome to America. Nice to help your family. When my mother needed expensive medical care and my brother needed a transplant, I cashed in everything including my 401K and paid what I could. I then prayed to win the lottery for $500,000 it would take for the transplant and $200,000 for my mom's medical care. No miracle win, they both died because they couldn't afford to live and I couldn't pay for it either. So, I'm glad he won and he will help his family. Wish I could have won. I've only been playing for 25 years.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

My heart goes out to you Jeffrey.  I don't have medical insurance either.  My neighbors get all free care.  (guess why?) It's not fair, is it?  Just don't feel guilty at all.  You know in your heart you did all that you could for them.  I am sorry for your loss.

This man won fair and square, so I'm happy for him and hope he invests wisely so his 15 (yikes!) brothers and sisters can enjoy his good fortune for a long time.  The Tico people are very kind and generous. At least that was my experience in Costa Rica.

BTW, I've been playing for over 30 years and ....zip, nada, zero, zilch. Maybe our luck with change soon.

SassyOhio's avatarSassyOhio

wow ya all killing me lol I been playing for ............................ 2 WHOLE YEARS lmao  wow guess I got alot of time to still get under my belt HAHA  well ya know I still say what I have always said... IF its in the cards that God deals then its yours no matter how long you or how little you been playing. Some of us are already "written" Millionaires we just dont know it yet :D

 

Congrats to you and yours  you have been blessed!! Big Grin Angel

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Oh wow, 7 years? only? some things are just too good to believe. some people play for years and never win. remember the woman in NY that stole millions from her job to play and never hit the jackpot? yep, only in lottery that strange things like this happen; a first timer has as much chance to win as a person who has played for decades. congratulations brother.

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

Yeah, I paid everything I had, went into deep debt and  then started gambling at the casino to raise more. The money flowed like water to pay existing bills and get more on credit but I still couldn't afford the transplant for my brother or the long-term care for my mother. I did pay for many surgeries for my mother. Without the funds, the good care (access to transplant organs or anti-rejection drugs) just doesn't exist. You can get toxins to kill cancer and hope for recovery.

I drove 80 miles across to Indiana for Powerball tickets in the hopes of winning and people told me I was crazy but I saw no other way. Made too much money for free care and not enough to keep up with the bills. I had to run a telethon at a bowling lane to raise the money for a headstone for my brother.

It's a pay as you go world, for most of us. My debts are now paid off a few years later and I sleep a little better. Tonight I received word that one of my friend's wife lost their baby in a miscarriage. I work at a job with college kids because my job went overseas 4 times in ten years and I went back to college for a new degree 3 times but I need a rest and I am leary of going into extreme debt for a job that will go overseas to the bottom of the world wide labor pool. Can't take away a job delivering pizza. We have no health insurance and watch the hospitals fill with people who can't and won't pay and these same hospitals closing down because they can't stay open with all the free care they are giving to our brand new friends to this country.

Welcome to America one and all. Remember, it is a pay as you go world. Sometimes you pay a little, sometimes you pay a lot, sometimes you pay all you have and then some. In the end, someone pays no matter what. Just a little food for thought.

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