GOLDSBORO – Goldsboro resident Thomas Presley did not initially plan on buying a scratch-off Wednesday morning but, after finding $20 in his pocket, he tried his luck and uncovered a $100,000 prize.
“I was just in shock,” he recalled. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Presley, an assistant principal, said he had to double-check to make sure he really won.
“Sometimes I mistakenly look at the numbers wrong,” he laughed.
He bought his lucky $20 100X The Cash ticket from the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Tommys Road in Goldsboro.
“First I called my wife,” he said. “She didn’t believe it so I took a picture of it to show her.”
Presley collected his prize at lottery headquarters Wednesday and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,256.
He said he will use the prize winnings to do some home improvements and save for his daughter’s education.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise $2.5 million a day on average for education. Wayne County has received state grants totaling $30 million from monies raised by the lottery to help build a new elementary school.
