A Fayetteville man is the 25th Cumberland County resident, and the fourth in 2011, to win a jackpot prize playing Carolina Cash 5. James Moretz Jr. won $369,616 in the Sunday, August 6 drawing when his ticket matched all five numbers.

Moretz discovered his ticket won at least a share of the jackpot on Sunday night, as he and his wife customarily watched the televised drawing.

“Checking the ticket was OK,” Moretz recalled. “But the amazing part was that just one ticket won. It’s amazing to hit that just by yourself.”

The $369,616 jackpot prize Moretz claimed is the largest Cash 5 prize awarded to a single winner anywhere in the state since two tickets split a $776,214 jackpot prize in the May 16 drawing. The largest Cash 5 jackpot in history, $1.35 million, was split between three tickets in the May 5 drawing.

“You gotta do it in moderation,” Moretz advised, with regard to playing lottery games. “But I’m going to keep playing because it's a great thing.”

Moretz purchased his winning ticket, worth $251,339 after taxes, at B’s Tobacco Food Mart on North Main Street in Hope Mills.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2010, Cumberland County players have won more than $120.3 million in lottery prizes and county retailers have earned more than $15.9 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time period, Cumberland County education programs have received more than $62.4 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds benefit teacher salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2 billion for the education initiatives it serves statewide.