Tony Freeman of Warsaw said he plans to get his dream home after he won a $250,000 lottery prize.
“It’s a dream come true,” Freeman said. “I can’t believe we can really do this. My fiancé and I have wanted a house for a long time, and now we can. We want to get a four-bedroom home with a bit of a yard for our three kids.”
Freeman’s good luck started early Friday morning when he stopped for gas at the Murphy USA on Sunset Avenue in Clinton. While there, he bought a Carolina Black scratch-off ticket. He took the ticket back to his car and started scratching.
“I just stared at the ticket,” Freeman said. “I didn’t feel real. I kept thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’ When I told my fiancé, she screamed so loud she woke the kids up. This is life-changing. I haven’t stopped grinning since it happened.”
After telling his fiancé, Freeman jumped into the car and drove to lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim the prize. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $176,876.
“Here’s to a new beginning,” Freeman said when he got his check. “This is incredible.”
The $5 ticket launched in March of 2019. One top $250,000 prize remains.
Ticket sales from games like Carolina Black make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.
Login to leave a comment.