For Louis Horton of Lillington, a $1 million lottery prize will let him retire early.

“I’ve owned my own trash business for 42 years,” Horton said. “I’m looking forward to retiring next year.”

Horton’s good fortune happened when he bought a $1,000,000 Taxes Paid ticket at the Short Stop on Anderson Ponds Drive in Spring Lake.

Horton wasn’t sure he had a winning ticket at first.

“I didn’t have my reading glasses on,” Horton said. “So I went back and asked the clerk to check it.”

Sure enough, he had a winning ticket.

“I ran out of the store shouting, ‘I’m going to Raleigh,’” Horton said. “I can’t believe I’m a millionaire!”

A player who wins a top prize in this game gets a check for the top prize amount with the taxes already paid. The lottery pays the minimum mandatory required federal and state tax withholding as part of the top prizes awarded in the game. The actual top prize Horton claimed on Monday was $1,438,829. He took home $1,000,003.

Horton is the first player to win a top prize playing $1,000,000 Taxes Paid. Three top prizes remain.

Ticket sales from games like $1,000,000 Taxes Paid made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $634 million for the state last year. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in Harnett County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.