Raleigh man had a huge smile on his face after $1 million win

Raleigh resident Jalen McLean couldn’t help but smile after a $10 scratch-off ticket turned into a $1 million prize.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the universe,” he said.

McLean, 18, gave his sister some money on Tuesday and told her to pick out a scratch-off for him. She chose a $10 Jumbo Bucks ticket from the Valero on South McPherson Church Road in Fayetteville. After she brought it back, she sat with him as he scratched off his ticket.

“He had a huge smile on his face,” his sister Dasha Silas recalled. “Like so big it looked like the movie character Venom.”

McLean, the youngest of five siblings, laughed when trying to articulate what the win means to him.

“How many 18-year-olds win something like this?” he said with a smile.

When McLean arrived at lottery headquarters Wednesday, he had a decision to make. He could choose to receive the prize as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $600,000.

McLean chose the annuity of $50,000 so for the next 19 years, until he is 38, he’ll get a check for $50,000 until the full $1 million prize is paid. He received the first of the 20 payments on Wednesday and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $35,753.

McLean said he plans to use his winnings to buy an Audi.

Jumbo Bucks debuted in June with seven $1 million top prizes. Two $1 million prizes remain to be claimed.