RALEIGH –When Erminio Lamanna of Wilmington purchased tickets for the Nov. 26 Carolina Cash 5 drawing, he said he hoped he would win his money back. Little did he know that the fourth ticket would go on to match four numbers for a $104 prize and the fifth would match all five numbers drawn, winning him $128,895.

Lamanna, a retired teacher from New York, learned of his win when he checked his numbers while standing in the Wilco on Oleander Drive in Wilmington, where he made his lucky purchase.

“After I saw I had matched four, I did a double take,” Lamanna said. “Then I did a triple take. I thought I had made a mistake. It didn’t register right away.”

Lamanna, who recently won $5,000 playing Carolina Pick 4, received a check for $87,719 after state and federal taxes were withheld. He said he plans to use his winnings to pay bills, help his family and maybe take a Florida vacation.

Lamanna held one of the two tickets that matched all five numbers in the drawing to split the $257,790 jackpot. The second ticket, which has not been claimed, was sold at the Quality Mart on West Plaza in Mooresville in Iredell County.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2011, New Hanover County players won more than $72.2 million in prizes and local retailers earned more than $9.8 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time frame, New Hanover County education programs received more than $32.6 million in lottery funds. By law, these funds benefit specific programs. More than $9.9 million paid for teacher salaries in grades K-3; more than $8.9 million went to prekindergarten opportunities for at-risk four year olds; and more than $3.2 million went to need-based college scholarships. New Hanover County officials decided how to utilize more than $10.4 million in school construction funds provided by the lottery.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.1 billion for these initiatives statewide.