Mississippi Man Claims $1.4 Million Lotto Jackpot
After years of driving to Louisiana every other week to purchase Lotto tickets, Charles Brown Jr. of Pass Christian, Miss. was shocked when one of his tickets for the Nov. 17 drawing matched all six numbers to win the $1,462,690 jackpot that had been rolling since Aug. 25.
"When I was sitting down to check my numbers I said to myself, 'I bet I don't have a single one,'" shared Brown. "I saw the two first, then the three and then I said to myself 'I think I've got all six of them' and that was it."
A very calm Brown explained that he always suspected he would be the type of winner to jump up and down while screaming if he ever discovered he had a jackpot-winning ticket, but that wasn't the case. "I just put the ticket down and took another sip of my Chardonnay," explained Brown. "When you get to 76, you can't do too much jumping anyway."
Brown received $1,023,883 after federal and state taxes were withheld. He plans to share his winnings with members of his family and contribute to his church, St. Stephens Catholic Church in Pass Christian, Miss.
Indian Village Trading Post on Indian Village Road in Slidell sold Brown his jackpot-winning ticket. The store will receive a bonus of $14,626, which is 1 percent of the prize, for selling the winning ticket. The winning numbers for the Nov. 17 Lotto drawing were 02-03-13-16-26-33.
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.