A Kirtland Air Force Base master sergeant who decided on a whim to buy a lottery ticket while picking up milk at a Raley's supermarket won a $93.4 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials announced Friday.
John San Cartier, a master sergeant assigned to the 58th Training Squadron at the New Mexico military base, held the only ticket for the Aug. 10 Powerball drawing that matched all six numbers.
"If I hadn't been short of milk, I probably wouldn't have bought the ticket," he said, adding that he doesn't play the lottery often.
San Cartier, 33, said that on the morning after the winning numbers were drawn, he heard there was a winner in New Mexico on a morning radio report.
"I thought: 'Wouldn't that be amazing?' " he said.
That evening, after work, he checked his ticket.
"I looked at my numbers again and again and again," he said. He verified the winning numbers with the lotto web site and reconfirmed them by requesting a printout of winning numbers at the store. Then, he stored the numbers in a safety deposit box.
San Cartier, 33, said he tried to keep his good fortune a secret. But news that he was the winner spread rapidly among friends and even a few strangers who learned his identity.
When he heard news stories speculating about who the winner might be, he fought the temptation to come forward.
"I wanted to run out screaming in the streets, 'It's me! Hey everybody, it's me!'" San Cartier told reporters, waving a hand with an imaginary ticket in the air.
Instead, San Cartier said, he tried to stay calm even though he felt scared and anxious. He was granted a leave from the Air Force, which he has served for 15 years. He spent recent days seeking advice from financial advisers, tax specialists and lawyers.
On Friday morning, when he was ready to claim his prize, he walked into the state lotto office, wearing a neatly pressed blue oxford, khaki green slacks and carrying the winning ticket in his back pocket.
Lottery officials commended him for bringing proper documents to their office.
"Congratulations," said New Mexico Lottery spokesman Lance Ross as he handed the winner a giant mock check made of cardboard. "Use it in good health. Use it wisely."
Lottery employees who gathered to watch the ceremony broke into applause.
San Cartier chose to take a lump sum of $52.2 million, rather than spread the payments out in annual installments. After taxes, he'll receive a one-time wire transfer of about $36 million, lottery officials said.
San Cartier, who is married, declined to give any other details about his family, work or personal life. He said he is not in debt, but the money will come in handy.
"It's going to be good for me and my family," he said.
San Cartier said the money will certainly pay for his children's college education, but he hasn't made other plans. He will carefully study opportunities for business investments but hasn't committed himself to anything, he said.
"I don't have anything specific that I'm going to buy," he said, admitting that he briefly considered a sporty Mercedes that he saw online, but later decided that the $450,000 price tag was too expensive.
He said the only luxury he wants is "peace and quiet." Since winning, he said, it seems that thousands of people have learned of his prize and he's disconnected his home phone.
The prize is the second largest in New Mexico history, the largest claimed by an individual.
The winning numbers were 13, 31, 36, 38, 49 and a Powerball of 2.
Powerball, created in 1992 and launched in New Mexico in October 1996, is played in 27 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
great story!!!
All for a jug of milk...doesn't it seem like those are the people that always wins. haha
And finally someone who knows what he is doing...
" He verified the winning numbers with the lotto web site and reconfirmed them by requesting a printout of winning numbers at the store"
Notice he wasn't stupid enough to give it to the retailer to ask if he won anything.
Congrats to the winner!
Brad
GOT MILK......GOT MONEY
It's great it's going to someone who spent the past 15 years preserving our freedoms! Congrats to him and his family!!
Now all those wannabe winners can stop looking for the ticket they never bought and the players who were mad the he didn't come forward earlier can get on with their lifes.
Another military man hits the big time good luck and congrats to the lucky winner I guess when it is your time to win it is your time.
One ticket to rule them all.
I play every drawing. Maybe, I should skip a few.
This is a great story. I don't play PB because I don't live in a PB state, but I like to make predictions in fantasy PB. Well, congratulations to the military man that hit the 93.4 million PB Jackpot. I noticed in 2003, a military man and his fiancee won $49.5 million in CA SLP.
Good for him. Always glad to see someone who sacrificed for his country get some payback. Hope he takes care of his family's future before the slugs close in.
Congrats to the winner!
Now all those wannabe winners can stop looking for the ticket they never bought and the players who were mad the he didn't come forward earlier can get on with their lifes.
Yeah, they can.
It's a relief to know someone's claimed it and it won't go back into the general revenues.
Jack
Good for him. Always glad to see someone who sacrificed for his country get some payback. Hope he takes care of his family's future before the slugs close in.
It will be interesting to hear what he sacrificed, if anything. He's enjoyed better health care, a lot higher salary, a better retirement system than your average New Mexican and probably your average American.
But if he's sacrificed somethng in the process most likely we'll be hearing a lot more about it in loving detail.
Jack
Hard to find a more deserving winner. Especially since he's relatively young, and STILL took the cash!
Guess who will be in the next "Got Milk?" commercial!!
Guess who will be in the next "Got Milk?" commercial!!
That ain't the half of it. We're hungry for heroes. If he's been unfortunate enough to have stubbed his toe on foreign soil he'll be up for a decoration.... maybe a Congressional Medal of Honor and a cushy recruiting job until his enlistment runs out.
The drumbeat applause for all the sacrifices he's made for his country's barely begun.
Jack
I TOO would like to express my congrats.....to the Soldier & his Family in NM...it's Fantastic!!!!
BTW......"rjoh" and "rip snorter" your blogs are great.....I've been laughing the whole time I'm reading........and of course it's always good to see that the winner's choice of a "lump sum payout" has certainly made "cash only" very pleased and satisfied. There's only one way to accept a payout......CASH ONLY.................hehhehehehehehe
All for a jug of milk...doesn't it seem like those are the people that always wins. haha
And finally someone who knows what he is doing...
" He verified the winning numbers with the lotto web site and reconfirmed them by requesting a printout of winning numbers at the store"
Notice he wasn't stupid enough to give it to the retailer to ask if he won anything.
Congrats to the winner!
Brad
Had he allowed a clerk to check it at the retailer the clerk might had figured it was their lucky day. Either they could try to trick him and claim the ticket for themselves or confirm he won and ask for a gratuitous tip for their honesty and a $10-$15 tip would have not been appreciated.
In New Mexico there's no danger of a store clerk, a waiter, a cab driver, or a blackjack dealer anticipating a tip. The touristas are too penny-pinching and the locals are generally too rightfully frugal.
On the other hand, if he'd gone in to a liquer store or convenience store to confirm, he might have got himself relieved of the ticket by hold-up men who were dropping in to pick up some beer money, or killed in the parking lot in a drive-by.
The guy did the smart thing here.
Jack
I didn't think the locals were generous tippers either, but the other day when I cashed in an Ohio649 4of6 winner for a $100, the clerk told me that it was not unusual for customers with such small winnings to tip her $20. I thought she was full of it so I grinned and I told her I didn't tip. If I had a winner that was too big to be cashed at a designated bank, I would never confirm it locally but head for the lottery headquarters.
Good for him. Always glad to see someone who sacrificed for his country get some payback. Hope he takes care of his family's future before the slugs close in.
It will be interesting to hear what he sacrificed, if anything. He's enjoyed better health care, a lot higher salary, a better retirement system than your average New Mexican and probably your average American.
But if he's sacrificed somethng in the process most likely we'll be hearing a lot more about it in loving detail.
Jack
It's OK Jack, no one holds it against you that you find nothing positive about America. Keep the faith, some day there will be another revolution, and the new leaders will provide you tons of pablum. You and Terry Nichols can than sit around and agree compare notes on achievements. Oh by the way, watch out for that Black Helicopter, they built it with no other purpose than to get you when your sleeping.
Good for him. Always glad to see someone who sacrificed for his country get some payback. Hope he takes care of his family's future before the slugs close in.
It will be interesting to hear what he sacrificed, if anything. He's enjoyed better health care, a lot higher salary, a better retirement system than your average New Mexican and probably your average American.
But if he's sacrificed somethng in the process most likely we'll be hearing a lot more about it in loving detail.
Jack
It's OK Jack, no one holds it against you that you find nothing positive about America. Keep the faith, some day there will be another revolution, and the new leaders will provide you tons of pablum. You and Terry Nichols can than sit around and agree compare notes on achievements. Oh by the way, watch out for that Black Helicopter, they built it with no other purpose than to get you when your sleeping.
Not a problem, Chewie. 22 years in some uniform or other was never intended to teach you to think for yourself. Obviously it worked.
This guy won a lottery, Chewie. Same as we all hope to do. He didn't storm an enemy machine gun nest. He's AIR FORCE.... an enlisted man in the Air Force. Not a hero. Air force, chewie.
He won the lottery. I'm glad he did. But you can't pound any drums about what he's sacrificed. He probably hasn't. He's just a career Air Force sargeant. Good pay, good benefits. We don't need him to be a hero.
He's a vet, you're a vet, I'm a vet. Big deal. Black helicopters indeed. Your post is worthy of you Chewie.
Jack
"If I hadn't been short of milk, I probably wouldn't have bought the ticket," he said, adding that he doesn't play the lottery often.
Those people that win by playing once tick me off. LOL. I guess the dedicated suckers like us in here have no shot. LOL. Anyone, if I have to pick a winner, a military person would be one of my first choices. I'm thankful for what they have done. Cheers to you!
I didn't think the locals were generous tippers either, but the other day when I cashed in an Ohio649 4of6 winner for a $100, the clerk told me that it was not unusual for customers with such small winnings to tip her $20. I thought she was full of it so I grinned and I told her I didn't tip. If I had a winner that was too big to be cashed at a designated bank, I would never confirm it locally but head for the lottery headquarters.
I don't understand why a clerk should expect a tip? They didn't help pick out the numbers and they didn't pay for the ticket? Running the numbers is part of their job that they're paid to do, so why am I asked for a tip when I win? I know there are some people on here who have sold lottery tickets, so could you explain? I could understand if you were friends with the clerk and called the numbers in and they played them because that could go 2 ways. 1 they don't have to play them because they haven't received and money so this would be something different for them to do. I've heard stories of people calling in numbers and not coming to get them until their payday or until a number they play comes in. 2. if you won you'de probably be giving them a tip because they played your ticket and if it won they gave it back. I've also heard stories of people calling in numbers to play and the ticket won and the clerk said they forgot to play it.
"If I hadn't been short of milk, I probably wouldn't have bought the ticket," he said, adding that he doesn't play the lottery often.
Those people that win by playing once tick me off. LOL. I guess the dedicated suckers like us in here have no shot. LOL. Anyone, if I have to pick a winner, a military person would be one of my first choices. I'm thankful for what they have done. Cheers to you!
Evidently the coincidence coordinators agree with you about quick picks, acronym.
As for us guys that served in the US military, naturally we are all proud as peacocks to have you believe we've done something, though we didn't do much except believe. We joined or were drafted. We went off and served in places where they'd mostly have preferred not to have us. Then, the smart ones came home and made the best we could with the remainder of our lives.
The ones who didn't come home, the ones who came home crippled and were forgotten by America sacrificed something. The rest of us just served our time and got out, or stayed because the money was better than we'd have been able to make in civilian life, the retirement after 20 years was something to covet, and lifetime free medical care was something very few Americans would dare hope for.
So, acronym, I'll reciprocate. I hope whatever you are, doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief, I hope you win a big one. I haven't a doubt you deserve it as much as any military man except those rotting away inside some Vet hospital for the last quarter century.
For them, I'd wish one per customer.
Jack
There, there, Jack. Some have to settle at just being a wannabe. The group doesn’t hold it against you. Everyone needs a laugh every now and then, Think of it this way, you are completely successful – at being the person we all pity.
America, land of the free and the brave – oh and Jack lives here to.
There, there, Jack. Some have to settle at just being a wannabe. The group doesn’t hold it against you. Everyone needs a laugh every now and then, Think of it this way, you are completely successful – at being the person we all pity.
America, land of the free and the brave – oh and Jack lives here to.
Another post worthy of yourself, Chewie.
We don't know whether this guy's fine and upstanding or not. We know he's a sargeant in the Air Force. Little more than that. We don't need to know more.
Chewie, don't try to build yourself up, using this man's lottery win to try to make people believe it somehow elevates you, because you happened to make a career out of the military. The people who believe it's something you should be respected for will offer it freely, without your posturing and preening.
This guy has nothing to do with you.
Lay off amigo.
Jack
Hey Rip, I was also in the military during the first Persian Gulf war, never seen action but no doubt my love for my country runs deep. US Army for me back then, now years later, I think I would have chosen the Air Force because those guys have it made with the best toys around. LOL. I make no mention in my post intentionally as I was a short timer, those that lost, served for many years and still serve deserve the accolades. God Bless....
Congrats to the sergeant
...onward to the new matrix