A textual content from a pal reminding Michael Chavez to test his lottery ticket just lately led to a seven-figure payday for the California participant.
When Chavez didn’t present up for work, a colleague texted him, joking that he should not have made it in as a result of he’d gained the Mega Millions drawing on Nov. 5. As it seems, he was proper.
“Chavez said he’d forgotten to tell his staff he wouldn’t be at the office, and his co-worker joked that he knew the reason for his absence, sending him a screenshot of the Mega Millions results from the California Lottery website,” lottery officers stated final week.
After having a look, Chavez realized he’d picked 5 of the six numbers, hitting a jackpot of greater than $1.2 million.
“I could not believe my eyes. I’m so excited and extremely grateful,” Chavez stated. “I’ll always remember… that textual content.”
Lottery Theft
But Chavez was removed from the one intriguing story to emerge from the world of state lotteries. Prosecutors in Lancaster County in Nebraska have charged Jeremiah Ehlers with stealing a successful ticket price $300,000.
The 49-year-old from Greeley introduced the successful scratch-off ticket and was paid $213,000 after taxes. He even posed with a customary outsized test and for a winner’s photograph.
However, police allege that safety video exhibits that he stole lottery tickets from the comfort retailer the place he labored. The firm that owns the shop contacted lottery officers in April 2024 and famous that Ehlers tried to validate the ticket earlier than buying it.
Almost $129,000 of the winnings had been later seized from an space financial institution by authorities, who discovered that he’d already spent greater than $84,000.
Winning Ticket Found In Bible
In January, a $1 million Virginia lottery win might have included some divine intervention. Jacqueline Mangus just lately purchased a ticket at a deli within the metropolis of Moneta, selecting to stash it in her bible for secure conserving. (Perhaps within the guide of Numbers?)
While watching the information later, a report stated {that a} winner had been bought in Moneta, which reminded Mangus to test her ticket. The new millionaire stated she was “tickled to death” with the revelation of her luck.
Dad Gift Pays Off
In Michigan, a lotto reward from a father actually paid some dividends for a 26-year-old Oakland County girl.
“I was surprised when he handed it to me,” she stated. “He stated it was a ‘just because gift,’ which I believed was very nice of him. When I scratched the ticket off, I used to be shocked to see that it was a $4 million winner. I had so many feelings going by my physique. I screamed. I cried.”
Lotteries are authorized in 45 states, plus the Distric of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Although there isn’t any official nationwide lottery, each Mega Millions and Powerball are provided in almost each jurisdiction. In 2023, Americans spent greater than $113.3 billion in lottery gross sales.
A lottery winner even made some headlines within the poker world just lately. Akbar Zamani gained the World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley important occasion in January after scoring about $500,000 within the lottery a number of years in the past.
