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Miami Man Claims $11 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 06-29-02 ... On Friday, Jun 28, a man from Miami claimed the $11.00 million Lotto jackpot from the Jun 8 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Antoine Joseph (33) chose to collect his award in form of a single cash payment of $6,148,317 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $366,666 each.

"I went to the store to buy some drinks the night of the drawing [Jun 8] and also bought $5.00 worth of Quick Pick tickets," said Antoine, who is originally from the Bahamas and owns a home-improvement business in Miami. "I went home to watch the Lennox Lewis v Mike Tyson fight on TV that night, so I didn't see the drawing on TV and I forgot to check my numbers in the newspaper for the next few days."

"Finally on Wednesday after the drawing [Jun 12], I got a computer printout of the winning numbers at another store and checked them when I returned home," Antoine expressed. "When I realized I had all six numbers, I just said to myself 'Oh Lord!' but I stayed pretty calm."

Antoine bought his lucky ticket at BJs Wholesale Club, located at 150 Miami Gardens Drive in Miami. The store's corporate office has received a $10,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot winning ticket.

"Later, I went back to BJs to get a second winning number printout, and took it back to my car to verify my numbers," Antoine indicated. When I saw once again that I had really won the Lotto jackpot, I started shaking. I then took the ticket to a bank safe deposit box for safekeeping until I came to Tallahassee today."

Antoine mentioned that he called a few family members to share the good news. He also consulted with several financial experts to determine how best to collect his prize and how to invest his winnings wisely.

"I will use most of my winnings to make investments," Antoine stated. "I also want to set up a college trust fund, help out some of my family members, and have a little fun. I won't be taking on any new jobs for my business. I'll probably keep just a few of my old customers."

Antoine is the 127^th Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Miami-Dade County, the 84^th winner with a ticket from the city of Miami, and the 723^rd overall winner since the game began in 1988.

North Carolina Woman Claims $15 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 06-27-02 ... On Wednesday, Jun 26, a woman from Raleigh, North Carolina, who is visiting family members in Palm Beach County, claimed the $15.00 million Lotto jackpot from the Jun 22 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Jeanette Talbott (69) opted to collect her award in form of a single cash payment of $7,973,442 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $500,000 each. She traveled to the state's capital in the company of her daughter Cyndi Cotton (47), who lives in Lake Worth.

Jeanette has played the Florida Lottery since 1988 on visits to her daughter and family who reside in Palm Beach County. Now she has a lot of "thank yous for the people of Florida."

"I was taking one of my granddaughters to lunch last week when I decided to stop by a store to buy some Lotto tickets," said Jeanette, who works at a high school in Raleigh as a child nutrition specialist. "I bought $10.00 worth of tickets, $5.00 for the Lotto drawing on the 19th, which I didn't win anything from, and another $5.00 worth for the drawing on the 22nd. I bought all Quick Picks."

Jeanette purchased her lucky ticket at the Circle K store, located at 5205 Lake Worth Road in Greenacres City. The Circle K Corporation will receive a $10,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot winning ticket.

"We were driving to Miami when I saw in the newspaper I had all six of the winning numbers," Jeanette told. "I turned to my daughter and said 'I just won the Lotto! ... I just won the Lotto!'"

"I just said 'sure.' I didn't believe it at first," Cyndi indicated. "We pulled off the road to check her ticket and have it verified at a store. She really did win the Lotto! After that, we never made it to Miami because we turned around and went back home."

After returning home, Jeanette began calling family members to tell them the good news and make plans to travel to Tallahassee to claim her prize. "When I told them I won, I thought they were going to come through the phone!" she observed. "I remained pretty calm though."

Jeanette mentioned that she plans to use part of her winnings to buy a new home, a new car, and to set up college trust funds for her three granddaughters. She also stated that she does not plan to quit her job at her school in Raleigh because "I like to work." She notified her school that she would return in August.

Jeanette is the 59^th Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Palm Beach County, the very first winner with a ticket from Greenacres City, and the 724^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

NR 06-24-02 ... Two players with tickets from Miami and Monticello share $168,724 Fan 5 jackpot on Jun 23 !!! Each winner receives $84,137. The winning ticket from Monticello is the first ever from Jefferson County, which thus becomes the 52nd Florida county [out of 67] to report a Fantasy 5 jackpot winner.

Palm Beach County Registers 59th Lotto Jackpot

NR 06-23-02 ... One player with a ticket from Greenacres City wins $15.00 million Lotto jackpot on Jun 22. This is the second Lotto main prize won by a ticket purchased in Palm Beach County in 2002, and the 59th since the game began in 1988. Earlier this year, on 01-19-02, a ticket from Wellington claimed a $21.90 million payout from an $87.60 million jackpot which was spilt among four winners - the other three tickets coming from Brooksville, Jacksonville and Miami.

The city of Greenacres City registers its first ever Lotto jackpot, and thereby becomes the 222nd Florida location to report a Lotto jackpot winner.

Palm Beach County's share of Lotto jackpot winners [59 of 724 = 8.15%] now lies somewhat above its proportion of overall Florida State residents [1.2 million of 16.8 million = 7.14%].
 

Lotto Jackpot Winning Tickets Purchased In Palm Beach County  [1988 - 2002]

A total of 59 Lotto jackpot winning tickets have been purchased in 18 different cities of Palm Beach County. The district currently ranks third among all Florida counties in total Lotto jackpot winners - behind Miami-Dade [127] and Broward [60], and ahead of Hillsborough [54], Pinellas [50], Volusia [29], Escambia [28] and Duval [27].
 

Lotto Jackpots By City In Palm Beach County

NR 06-23-02 ... One player with Greenacres City ticket wins $15 million Lotto jackpot on Jun 22 !!! This is the first ever Lotto winning ticket from Greenacres City, which thus becomes the 222nd Florida location to report a Lotto jackpot winner.

NR 06-20-02 ...  Summer Solstice ... The northern hemispheric summer begins on Friday, June 21, at precisely 09:11 am ET. At that moment, the sun reaches its maximum offset of +23°27' from the celestial equator, a declination known as the Tropic of Cancer. Since the sun will be at its northernmost point in relation to the earth on June 21, this will be the longest day of the year [for everybody who lives north of the equator, that is]. Enjoy the season !!!

NR 06-20-02 ... Riviera Beach is the 200^th Florida location to register a Fantasy 5 jackpot winner.

NR 06-19-02 ... Three players with tickets from Bonifay, Miami and Pensacola share $211,274 Fantasy 5 jackpot on Jun 18 !!! Each winner receives $70,425. The winning ticket from Bonifay is the first ever from Holmes County, which thus becomes the 51st Florida county [out of 67] to report a Fantasy 5 jackpot winner.

NR 06-17-02 ... Three players with tickets from Coral Springs, Lake City and Miami Beach share $168,763 Fantasy 5 jackpot on Jun 16 !!! Each winner receives $56,254. The winning ticket from Lake City is the highest Fantasy 5 payout in Columbia County.

Lakeland Man Claims $7 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 06-12-02 ... On Wednesday, Jun 5, a man from Lakeland claimed the $7.00 million Lotto jackpot from the Apr 20 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. George D. Mitchell (63) chose to collect his award in form of a lump-sum payment of $3,641,390 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $233,333 each. He traveled to the state's capital in the company of his wife Georgia (63).

George is the second Lotto winner from Lakeland this year. On May 18, Doug Thomas (44) from the same city won a $4.23 million jackpot, which he claimed three days later.

George, who is a retired sales manager from Illinois, wasn't aware that he had won the jackpot until several days after the drawing, because he was out of town. "I had read in the newspaper when I got back in town that the winning Lotto ticket for that drawing was sold in Lakeland," he said. "So I went to the Publix where I bought my ticket to find out if I had won. When the clerk told me I was the jackpot winner, I was pretty low key and didn't show any emotion. I just went on with my grocery shopping."

"When I went home, before I showed the ticket to my wife, I told her, 'We can now look at buying a bus-type recreational vehicle instead of the pop-up type,' and she didn't understand why I was saying this," George commented. "Then I showed her the winning ticket and she didn't believe me."

"I looked at his ticket several times and was in disbelief," said Georgia, a retired nurse from the Chicago area. "When I finally realized we had the winning ticket, I made him take me out to dinner because he was in the dog house for something else. The winning ticket got him out of my dog house!"

The Mitchell's, who have four grown children, thirteen grandchildren and one great grandchild, then started calling various family members to tell them the good news. "None of our children believed us at first," observed Georgia.

George indicated that he uses Advance Play to purchase his Lotto tickets for 26 weeks, and that he sometimes does not check them for several days after a drawing because he and his wife are traveling. He mentioned that he usually buys three Lotto tickets for each drawing, two with his personal numbers and one Quick Pick. The Quick Pick ticket was the winning ticket for the Apr 20 drawing.

After several weeks of financial planning before redeeming their winning ticket, the Mitchell's have in mind using part of their award to set up a college fund for their grandchildren, make a donation to their church, perhaps take golf lessons, buy George's mom a new car and possibly hold a family reunion later this year for everyone to attend.

George bought his lucky ticket at Publix Supermarket, located at 6767 US Highway 98 North in Lakeland. The store will receive a $10,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot winning ticket.

George is the 22^nd Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Polk County, the 8^th winner with a ticket from the city of Lakeland, and the 719^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.