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A Georgia man who enjoys buying lottery tickets in North Carolina is celebrating a massive win after a recent purchase landed him a $200,000 prize.
Dewayne Townsend of Canton, Georgia, works near the Georgia-North Carolina border and often buys scratch-off lottery tickets in the Tar Heel State, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery. This tradition recently paid off when he stopped by the Kwik Stop on Old Highway 64 West in Warne where he picked up a $5 ticket in the new Carolina Panthers game, which launched in July.
"I go to that store all the time," he said. "I'm up there a lot for work."
When he scratched off his ticket, he discovered that he won $200,000, the first of the game's top prizes to be claimed since it launched in the summer.
"It makes me feel good. Real good," he said of his win. "It will make life so much easier for me now."
Townsend claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday (September 28), taking home a grand total of $142,501 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. So what does he plan to do with his new winnings? According to lottery officials, he hopes to pay off his house and put some of the money away for his retirement.
"I have worked since I was probably 14 years old," he said. "I'm 60 years old now and it is going to help me retire a whole lot sooner now."