Winning $1.22B lottery ticket sold in California
The winning ticket was sold at a gas station in Cottonwood, California.
Fox – LA
Aided by his wife’s words of encouragement, active-duty U.S. Army member Christopher Lehman signed up to play the lottery.
That same day he became a millionaire.
The servicemember of 25 years from western Pennsylvania, won $1,351,472 playing a game through the Pennsylvania Lottery, agency officials announced in a release obtained by USA TODAY on June 13.
Lottery officials presented him with a commemorative check at the agency’s Pittsburgh office on June 10.
“My wife always says I have good luck,” said Lehman, of Pittsburgh’s northeast suburb, Beaver.
Lehman won the Jackpot Spectacular on May 30. According to the lottery website, the online game is “a connect-style game” with shared progressive jackpots across multiple states.
“I looked at the progressive prize amount for Jackpot Spectacular and thought, ‘That one’s about to pop soon,’” the military member said. “I budgeted $100 to play that day. I figured, if I lose, I lose,”
He did not.
“We’re always happy to see one of our players win a prize that will make a big difference in their lives,” Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko said in the release.
What is Jackpot Spectacular?
While playing Jackpot Spectacular, a progressive jackpot can be won in any participating state at any time.
“Game play features a chance to reveal a multiplier amount up to 50 times, a chance to unlock 10 free games, and a chance to activate a bonus game,” according to the lottery’s website, and games are played on a computer, tablet, or mobile phone.
Online players can also purchase Powerball, Mega Millions, Treasure Hunt, Cash4life, Match 6 Lotto and PICK game tickets at palottery.com or by using the Lottery’s official app. Subscriptions are also available..
Who is Christopher Lehman, Pennsylvania lottery winner?
Lehman said he has been in the miltary for a quarter of a century.
He recently moved to Pennsylvania from New England with his wife, and won the same day he signed up for a Pennsylvania Lottery online account, the release shows.
“My wife and I just moved here from New Hampshire about a month ago,” he said. “I’m active duty in the Army for the past 25 years. I enjoyed playing Lottery games online in New Hampshire and now online in Pennsylvania.”
‘We had to be adults’
He said he will use the winnings to pay off the couple’s house, buy a new truck and invest the rest.
“It went from the extremes of, ‘We should go buy these things, we should buy this or this, we should spend it on this’ — none of it we were really going to do, but it was nice to think about it until the money hit, and then we had to be adults,” he said.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
