It may not be the $57 million jackpot everyone is talking about, but a Kinston man has collected a large lottery win nonetheless.
Eric Cargain, a pressman from Kinston, won the $60,354 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot in the Friday, Sept. 30 drawing – the same night a Mega Millions ticket sold in Greenville split the $114 million jackpot with another ticket sold in California.
[Update, Tues. Oct. 4, 9pm: ENCtoday.com has a great feature about Cargain returning to cheers from his former coworkers at the Kinston Free Press after they learned of his good luck.]
Cargain said he “couldn’t believe” that the numbers he picked on his Carolina Cash 5 ticket made his the only one to match all five numbers in the drawing. As he claimed his jackpot at the N.C. Education Lottery’s Greenville claim center, Cargain said he planned to use his winnings to pay for school and pay off his car. He purchased his winning ticket at the Wilco on Richlands Way in Richlands, which is in Onslow County.
Still yet to come forward is the owner of the $57 million jackpot ticket sold at the Kangaroo Express on Southeast Greenville Boulevard in Greenville. Players have 180 days from the date of a drawing to claim prizes.
From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2011, Lenoir County players won more than $41 million in prizes and county retailers earned more than $5.2 million in commissions on ticket sales.
During the same time frame, Lenoir County education programs received more than $13.2 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 these initiatives statewide.
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