NC man spots lottery sign at gas station, then scratches off a jackpot, officials say
A North Carolina man scratched off a $1 million jackpot after stopping for gas and deciding to buy a lottery ticket, state lottery officials said Wednesday.
Ronald Atteberry of Spencer eyed the 50X The Cash game at Murphy Express on Freeland Drive in Salisbury and bought one of the $10 tickets, according to a lottery news release.
He’s glad he did, as he became the third top-prize winner in the game that debuted in February, officials said.
Atteberry beat odds of 1 in 3.44 million, according to the 50X The Cash page on NCLottery.com.
Annuity or lump sum?
Atteberry went to lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim his prize and had the choice of a $50,000 annuity over 20 years and a $600,000 lump sum.
He chose the lump sum and took home $425,012 after taxes, officials said.
Atteberry didn’t tell officials how he might spend the money. He couldn’t be reached by The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.
Five jackpots remain
Five $1 million 50X The Cash prizes remain to be claimed, according to the lottery.
In March, a South Carolina woman visiting family in Charlotte became the first $1 million winner in the game on a ticket she bought at the BP Food Mart on West Sugar Creek Road.
“Intuition,” Leticia Flores Alvarado of Greenwood told the Observer at the time about her decision to buy the ticket.
This story was originally published July 6, 2022 at 11:25 AM.