Dorian Sutton of Kinston stopped at a convenience store to buy some juice, sweetened his purchase with a few $5 scratch-off tickets, and enjoyed a $200,000 prize.
Sutton bought his lucky $200,000 Triple Play ticket at the United Mini Mart on Old Snow Hill Road in Kinston on Sunday but waited until Monday to play it.
“I scratched it and I thought, ‘Wow! Is it real?’” recalled Sutton. “I kept scratching it for a while, just looking at the number.”
Sutton claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $141,501.
“I feel great,” said Sutton. “I still can’t believe it.” He plans to use his prize money to repair the house his mother and father left him.
$200,000 Triple Play launched in May with four top prizes of $200,000. Two top prizes remain to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million per year for education. For details on how $3.5 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Lenoir County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.