Sandra Blackmon and James Trent of Lexington have celebrated a lot together over the course of the last year. On Tuesday, they added one more item to their list of celebrations – a $4 million lottery win.
Trent stopped at the Crossroads Mart located off U.S. Highway 64 East in Mocksville to buy the winning $10,000 Loaded scratch-off ticket. Every time he plays the lottery, he always makes sure to bring one home for his wife to scratch. This time, Blackmon scratched her way to a $4 million prize.
Blackmon and Trent plan on calling their five children and eight grandchildren to come over to their house to share the good news.
“We want to help our children, grandchildren, and our parents,” said Blackmon. “We have good, appreciative kids. We want to cushion them, so that it’s less stress on them.”
The couple also plans to pay off their new house.“The house will be paid off before the first payment’s due … on April 1st,” said Trent. “I want to do it just like my dad does. He only has an electricity and utilities payment each month. That’s it.”
Blackmon and Trent had the choice of an annuity prize paid out as $200,000 a year over 20 years, totaling $4 million, or they could choose a lump sum of $2.4 million. They chose the lump sum and divided it evenly between the two of them. They claimed their prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Tuesday. After required state and federal tax withholdings, they each took home $849,003.The $20 game launched in October with three top-prizes of $4 million. Two $4 million prizes remain to be won.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how money raised by the lottery has made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.
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