Timothy Lingo of Hillsborough asked five different people for a set of five numbers each, and one suggestion scored him half of a $390,814 Cash 5 jackpot.
“I said, ‘Give me five numbers,’” he recalled. “He gives me four so I texted him back and said, ‘Learn to count, bozo, I need one more.’ And he gave me a number and that was it.”
Lingo’s ticket was one of two tickets that matched all five numbers in Wednesday’s drawing. He purchased his winning ticket from the Sheetz on N.C. 86 in Hillsborough.
On Thursday morning after getting off of work, Lingo checked his numbers on the lottery’s website.
“I looked and said, ‘Oh my god,’” he recalled of realizing his big win. “So, I went and got my lottery ticket and it was his numbers. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Lingo, who has worked in commercial extermination for 30 years, claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He received half of the jackpot, $195,407, and the other half went to the second winner, Aaron Garcia of Raeford. After required federal and state tax withholdings, Lingo took home $138,254.
With his prize money, Lingo plans to help his friend, who supplied the winning numbers, buy a new car. “Because if it wasn’t for his numbers, I’d still have zero,” said Lingo.
“I volunteer at a youth camp and we could use some stuff at the youth camp so I’ll use a lot of it for that.” With the rest, he plans to pay off his home and save for the future.
Carolina Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Tuesday’s jackpot is $169,000.
Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.
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