North Carolina Veteran Scores $1 Million Jackpot

Photo: Getty Images

A North Carolina veteran recently hit the jackpot in a $1 million Powerball win.

Ronald Statzer is a retired U.S. Coast Guardsman in Elizabeth City. Last week, he purchased five Quick Pick tickets from the 7-Eleven on Patrick Way on Wednesday (September 15) to try his luck in the lottery. He left his tickets by his computer so he could check them when he woke up the next morning, per the Charlotte Observer.

When Thursday morning (September 16) came, he discovered that one of his tickets matched all five numbers for Wednesday's drawing, beating the 1 in 11.6 million odds, according to lottery officials.

"The first one I picked up, I looked at it and I went to the Internet to verify the numbers," he said. "I saw the first one come up, the second one, the third, the fourth one, and then the fifth one. And I sad, 'Oh my God,' and I went downstairs and told my wife."

His wife didn't believe him at first. He recalled the moment he told his wife that he had the jackpot.

"How does it feel to be a millionaire?" he asked as he woke up his sleeping wife, adding, "She said, 'What?' And I said, 'I just won $1 million.' And that's pretty much what happened this morning."

Statzer couldn't wait to claim the jackpot, heading to lottery headquarters in Raleigh later that morning to collect his prize. After taxes, he took home a grand total of $707,501.

So what does he plan to do with his newfound winnings? He's still figuring that out, but he does have a place to start.

"One of the first things I am going to do is pay off my truck," he said. "Other than that, I don't know. Not yet. We will be thinking about it."


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content