A $5 lottery ticket that James Parker-Jones received Tuesday as a Christmas present turned into the “best one” ever when it revealed a $200,000 prize.
“It was a gift to me from my parents, an early Christmas present,” said Parker-Jones, a retail store manager from Florence, S.C. He said the present turned out to be the “best one I’ve gotten” since the ski sweater he received one Christmas while in college.
The gift made Parker-Jones the first winner of the top prize in the new Gold game. His parents bought the ticket at the Tomodachi Japanese Market on Brynn Marr Road in Jacksonville.
Parker-Jones, who grew up in Jacksonville, said he was with his parents Tuesday when he discovered his good luck. “They were excited,” he said. “They were just happy that what they gave me was real good. They never thought it would be $200,000.”
After required state and federal tax withholdings, Parker-Jones received $141,501 when he claimed his prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He said he planned to pay off bills, share with his parents, and see if he could buy that dream retirement home in the North Carolina mountains.
The Gold game started this month. Three more top prizes of $200,000 remain to be won.
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