Sanford veteran comes forward as $1M Powerball winner
An Army veteran has came forward as the winner of a $1 million ticket sold last week at a grocery store in Harnett County.
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James Montgomery of Sanford, who served in the Army for 22 years, said he bought the ticket during a routine trip to Food Lion on Buffalo Lake Road.
“If I have a spare dollar or two when I’m shopping, I’ll buy a lottery ticket,” Montgomery said. “I’d joke that I was putting it into my retirement fund.”
Saturday’s drawing made Montgomery a winner. His ticket matched all numbers on the five white balls, 2-29-41-45-62, in the drawing.
The win beat odds of 1 in 11,688,054.
After required state and federal tax withholdings, Montgomery took home $707,501.
Montgomery checked his numbers on his phone while pumping gas, then got back into the car with his wife and drove home without saying anything about his big win.
“I didn’t say anything at first, just put my phone back in my pocket,” said Montgomery. After getting home and unpacking the groceries, Montgomery asked his wife to go on a walk so they could talk about something important.
“The last time he said something like that, he was being deployed,” said his wife.
We don’t intend to change who we are,” Montgomery said. “This money will make life a little easier so we can focus on what’s important, but we’ll still be living the same life.”
No one won Saturday’s jackpot, which will climb to $181 million as an annuity or $112.1 million cash for Wednesday’s drawing.
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