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news blog > article

School custodian wins $250,000 lottery prize

March 21, 2018 Posted by NC Lottery at 4:00 AM
image-photo

A lucky 20X The Cash scratch-off ticket cost Ana Melara Flores of Charlotte a night’s sleep, but paid off Tuesday with a $250,000 prize. 

“I just couldn’t sleep,” Melara Flores said. “I was so excited!”

The school custodian’s good fortune happened Monday night when she got off work. She stopped by the 7-Eleven on North Tryon Street in Charlotte and bought a 20X The Cash scratch-off ticket.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Melara Flores said. “I just kept looking at the ‘19’ and the ‘19’. I thought maybe I was seeing it wrong.”

She claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $176,254. She plans to save the money. 

The $5 ticket launched in February with eight top prizes of $250,000. Five top prizes remain
 
Congratulations!

10 COMMENTS

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4/13/2018 04:15 - Daniel N.

People are so stupid to think the lottery wants certain areas to win. That’s like saying casinos set things up so only a few slots win. THE BEST THING FOR STATE LOTTERIES IS FOR People TO HEAR ABOUT A WINNER IN THEIR AREA... I play Ohio lottery and you all wouldn’t last in this top dawg lottery state. Also people don’t realize that lottery agencies have 100% no idea which ticket is a winner. They do NOT PURPOSELY PICK CERTAIN AREAS TO WIN. It would do nothing but lower ticket sales. The best thing for lotto agencies is word of mouth from winners etc. Then I see people saying someone bought $110 worth of $10 tickets and won $5 back total. $10 is the smallest prize you can win on $10 ticket.

3/23/2018 12:09 - Gayle T.

Congratulations Melara!

3/22/2018 06:42 - Gregory F.

Another big winner in the western part of the state. Their are something wrong about this. I have bought a lot of this none winning tickets .the lottery know where the big money tickets are at.I am convinced of this.

3/22/2018 08:39 - Jean W.

Congratulation.God bless you.

3/21/2018 09:19 - lisa p.

Wish something would win in my area. Been losing forever on every single ticket. Its not just me. Thats what everybody is saying. Its very discouraging when you spend hundreds of dollars to win a breakeven prize. A friend spent $110.00 at one store and only won $5 back. Spent another $50 at a different store to win nothing! Whats up with the tickets? This is not fair. You are supposed to have a chance to win. Odds are deceiving. NC Lottery
We wish every ticket could be a lucky one, but the money to pay prizes for winning tickets comes from the non-winning tickets. Each time you buy a ticket, you have to beat the odds in order to win a prize. Buying multiple tickets is never a guarantee of winning. It just takes one ticket to win.

3/21/2018 08:15 - chris w.

just looking at her picture, I bet she is one of the nicest people,hard worker and she probably deserves her prize...congrats!

3/21/2018 04:48 - Maurice H.

God bless you.

3/21/2018 03:02 - Dennis C.

First post in new site. Not user friendly at all so I dont post anymore but I felt compelled to today. I wanted to say I think you folks have been listening to us. The $20 Diamond Spectacular card has the best algorithm of any card you have ever produced. Please let the vendor know that this algorithm is fair to the player and still profitable for the NCEL. Its the best card (honorable mention to the old $20 Gold Bouillon card) the NCEL has ever produced. So thank you but I hope you continue this trend of fair and equitable play.

3/21/2018 02:55 - Xiomara F.

Congratulations, Ms. Flores! I am buying a scratch-off today and hope I hit it big!

3/20/2018 08:27 - Cheryl P.

So, today is 3/20/18 but the above post is dated 3/21/18...not a complaint, but an observation. CONGRATULATIONS Ana Melara Flores!!!!

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