Haitian man claims half of $80 million Lotto jackpot
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- A man from Haiti claimed his half of a $80.9 million Lotto jackpot on Monday, saying he bought the winning ticket the first time he ever played the Florida Lottery.
Jacquelin Ferdinand, 55, who lives in Miami, decided to take a lump sum of $21,601,782.48. He could have chosen 30 annual payments of about $1,349,000 a year.
"This was the first time I ever played Lotto, and the numbers I chose were at random," Ferdinand said at Florida Lottery headquarters.
Ferdinand said he didn't check his numbers until two weeks after the July 26 drawing.
He said he will meet with his family to decide what to do with his winnings. Ferdinand said he plans to keep working, but told Lottery officials that he didn't want to disclose his occupation to help protect his privacy.
The Lotto jackpot was advertised as $75 million, but higher than expected ticket sales pushed it to $80.9 million. It was the 10th largest jackpot in Lotto history.
A Hollywood couple, Amy and William Wildstein, had previously claimed the first half of the jackpot.
The winning numbers picked July 26 were: 12-13-21-31-37-47.