- Donnie Leviner said “something told him to buy” the $20 Big Cash Payout ticket and he ended up with a $2 million lottery ticket, lottery officials said
- After taxes, the 18-year-old NC man is taking home nearly $860,000
- Leviner beat the odds by 1 in 1,598,205, according to officials
An 18-year-old North Carolina man said a gut feeling led him to purchase a lottery ticket that ended up being worth $2 million, according to lottery officials.
“Something just told me to buy it,” Donnie Leviner told the North Carolina Education Lottery officials.
That intuition paid off when Leviner stopped for gas at the Sneads Grove Convenience on Sneads Grove Road in Laurel Hill.
“I initially just went there to fill up the lawn mower,” he laughed.
According to lottery officials, Leviner has previously only purchased a few lottery tickets. This time, he decided to buy the $20 Big Cash Payout ticket — and then he won.
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“I was in disbelief,” Leviner recalled. “I really didn’t think it was true.”
When he arrived to collect his winnings on Monday, April 29, Leviner was faced with a decision to receive the prize as an annuity of $100,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $1.2 million.
Officials said he chose the lump sum of $1.2 million, and after required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $858,006.
He said he doesn’t have a plan yet on what he’ll do with his winnings, but told lottery officials that he will “spend it wisely.”
His win was also extremely lucky. The North Carolina Education Lottery shared that the odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 1,598,205. Two $2 million prizes and five $100,000 prizes are still available.
“Scotland County received $1.6 million in money raised by the lottery to help with school renovations,” officials said.
