Baton Rouge Woman Claims $300,000 Lotto Jackpot

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Cynthia Jones of Baton Rouge always thought of herself as an unlucky person, so when all of the numbers on her Lotto ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on March 13, she thought it had to be a mistake. 

"I usually check my numbers when they come on TV, but I wasn't at home for the drawing on Saturday night," explained Jones, age 45.  "When I checked the winning numbers on the Lottery's Web site on Sunday and saw that they matched my numbers, I thought I was doing something wrong."

Jones, a U. S. Air Force veteran and ROTC teacher, immediately called a friend to come over and check the ticket, too.  After finally realizing she had won the $300,000 jackpot, Jones spent the remainder of the afternoon making a list of what she could do with her winnings.  Her list included buying herself a new car and having several trees removed from her yard.

Jones received $210,000 after federal and state taxes were withheld.  Country Club Texaco on Highland Road in Baton Rouge sold Jones her jackpot-winning ticket. The store will receive a bonus of $3,000, which is 1 percent of the prize, for selling the winning ticket. The winning numbers for the March 13 Lotto drawing were 04-12-20-21-27-40.

Lottery ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age.  Draw-style game tickets must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing.  Anyone who may have a gambling problem or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem should call toll free 1-877-770-7867 for help.  For security purposes, the Lottery strongly encourages players to sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing.