RALEIGH — A $5 dollar scratch-off ticket, purchased on a whim, shocked Melissa Corano-Juarez, of Charlotte, with a $200,000 prize, the N.C. Education Lottery announced Thursday.
“I was thinking maybe I was going to win 50 bucks, 100 bucks max,” she told lottery officials.
Corano-Juarez found a much bigger prize when she got home and checked the ticket.
“I just scratched it off and it said $200,000, so I was just in complete shock,” she said, “I just started shaking and I was really happy.”
Corano-Juarez, 21, bought her Ice scratch-off at the Raceway Amoco on Lyles Lane in Concord. She said the big win also shocked her family.
“I told them and they thought I was playing around until I showed them the actual ticket,” she said.
Corano-Juarez visited lottery headquarters in Raleigh Wednesday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $142,501. She plans to put the money in savings.
The Ice game debuted in December with six top prizes of $200,000. After Corano-Juarez’s win, four top prizes remain.
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