Winning the $12.2 billion lottery for sale in California
Winning tickets were sold at a gas station in Cottonwood, California.
FOX -LA
Helped by his wife’s encouraging words, active US military member Christopher Lehman signed up to play the lottery.
On the same day he became a billionaire.
A 25-year service aide from Western Pennsylvania has won $1,351,472 to play the game through the Pennsylvania lottery, agency officials announced on June 13 in a release obtained by USA Today.
Lottery officials presented him with a commemorative check on June 10th at the agency’s Pittsburgh office.
“My wife always says she has good luck,” said Lehman, a beaver in the northeastern suburb of Pittsburgh.
Lehman won Jackpot Spectacular on May 30th. According to the lottery website, the online game is a “connection style game” with progressive jackpots shared across multiple states.
“I saw progressive bounty for the jackpot’s grandeur and thought, ‘I’m going to pop right away,'” a military member said. “I budgeted $100 to play that day. I thought if I lost I’d lose.”
He didn’t.
“We are always pleased to see one of the players who have won the prize that makes a huge difference in our lives being awarded,” said Drew Svitko, executive director of the Pennsylvania lottery.
What is Jackpot Spectacular?
During the epic play of the Jackpot, you can earn Progressive Jackpots at any time while participating.
According to the lottery website, “Gameplay has the chance to reveal up to 50 multipliers, a chance to unlock 10 free games, and a chance to activate bonus games,” and the game is played on a computer, tablet or mobile phone.
Online players can also purchase Powerball, Mega Millions, Treasure Hunt, Cash4Life, Match 6 Lotto, select a game ticket at Palottery.com or use the official Lottery app. Subscriptions are also available.
Who is Christopher Lehman from the Pennsylvania lottery?
Lehman said he was at Meetary for a quarter century.
He recently moved from New England to Pennsylvania with his wife and won the same day that he signed up for a Pennsylvania lottery online account, the release shows.
“My wife and I moved here from New Hampshire about a month ago,” he said. “I’ve been active in the Army for the past 25 years. I played lottery games online in New Hampshire and now I’ve played them online in Pennsylvania.”
“We had to be adults.”
He said he would use the prize money to pay off the couple’s home, buy a new truck and invest the rest.
“It went from the extreme, ‘We should go buy these things, we should buy this or this, we should spend on it’ – we weren’t really trying to do it, but it was good to think about it until the money hits,” he said.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA Today. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at x @nataliealund.