Small-town woman’s big $1 million win best of the week

Places east and west, big and small: Lottery players across North Carolina claimed 35 prizes this week of at least $5,000 all the way up to $1 million.

That seven-figure win belongs to Brenda Sellers, a customer service manager from Elizabethtown in Bladen County. After finishing her shift last week, she bought a $10 ticket for the 50X The Cash game – and was stunned to see the $1 million prize on her ticket. “I started screaming, hollering, and jumping up and down,” Sellers said.

Three players collected their shares of Carolina Cash 5 jackpots, including Elizabeth Pitts of Denver. The Lincoln County woman had a ticket worth half a million dollars for more than two weeks and didn't even know it. When she finally checked her ticket from the March 25 drawing, she discovered she had won the $518,545 jackpot. “I’ve learned my lesson,” Pitts said. “I’ll be checking everything, every time from now on.”

Nicholas Carranza of Raleigh and Peter Mazzei of Winterville in Pitt County split the April 10 Cash 5 jackpot to win $210,556 apiece. Carranza, a first-time lottery player, works as a ramp agent at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Mazzei, an Army Veteran, has been playing the same numbers for years.

Three players won $50,000 instantly:

• Said Quiterio of Winston-Salem (10th Anniversary Millions)
• Paul Gagnon of Clayton ($200 Million Blowout)
• Bennie Harrison of Winston-Salem (5X Bingo Multiplier)

Betty Winston of Oxford in Granville County was the only player to cash in a ticket worth $30,000 this week. She won playing the $2 10th Anniversary Riches game.

A dozen players scratched their way to $10,000 wins:

• Jose Garcia of Greenville ($2,500 a Week for Life!)
• Ahija Spivey of Windsor (5X The Cash)
• Tomas Jandres of Wake Forest ($2,500 a Week for Life!)
• James Mowery of Woodleaf ($4,000,000 Multiplier Spectacular)
• Maria Elvir of Rocky Mount (Casino Riches)
• Thomas Morris of Ashoskie (10th Anniversary Millions)
• Felicia Boggs of Ellenboro (Millionaire Bucks)
• Jessica Benton of Gastonia (Millionaire 7's)
• Tyler Anderson of Lucama (10X The Cash)
• John Dembry of Lewiston ($200 Million Blowout)
• Jessica Roberts of Hope Mills (Millionaire Bucks)
• Fred Williams of Randleman (Millionaire Bucks)

And 15 players claimed prizes of $5,000 each. Four of them are from Fayetteville, three from Raleigh and two from Statesville. The other winners are from Charlotte, Greenville, Hampstead, Lynn, Plymouth, and Willow Spring.

Want to read more about big winners? We post the stories of all winners of $100,000 or more in the News section on our website.

Until next time, we hope you all have a fun and safe weekend. See you soon here in the Lucke-Zone.