Sacramento -- Gerald Spina, a traffic technician for the City of Riverside didn’t know that a break in his routine would make him a millionaire on Wednesday night. Spina listened to his mother, Jacqueline, when she coaxed him to go buy lottery tickets early, whereas he usually procrastinates until just before the draw to purchase his tickets. Spina found out during the news broadcast that night that he held the ticket with the winning combination 2, 25, 33, 39, 44 and MEGA Number 11. Gerald and his mother Jacqueline each pitched in $2.50 to purchase a $5 Quick Pick for the Wednesday night drawing and joined the ranks of more than 1,700 who have won prizes playing the California State Lottery since 1985. The retailer will receive a bonus of $55,000 for selling the winning ticket.
What will he do with his windfall? “We’ve dreamt of having a big house, traveling and saving for our children’s education,” said Spina. “This will also take care of my mom’s medical needs.” Spina went on to say that they could not believe they had won the Lottery and not only froze the television screen on the winning numbers but also checked the internet and ran to the retailer to check a third time. “I was still skeptical, thinking that surely there had been a mistake,” said Spina.
Spina won the ninth largest jackpot sold in Riverside County and the mother/son team becomes the 48th and 49th jackpot winners from that county. In March of 2003, Sang Cho won $89 million from a ticket that she purchased in Moraga, California. On February 16, 2002, the largest jackpot in California Lottery history reached $193 million and was won by 3 winning tickets purchased in Montebello, Orange and Half Moon Bay. Alcario Castellano of San Jose, California made Lottery history when he became the record-breaking highest individual jackpot winner of $141 million on June 23, 2001.
SuperLotto Plus can be played at approximately 18,000 retail business establishments around the state. The SuperLotto Plus draw takes place each Wednesday and Saturday night at 7:58 p.m. Players may purchase tickets until 7:45 p.m. on the night of the draw.