Dreams Can Come True!

Mr. Roberts a freelance businessman explains his last minute purchase of the lottery ticket saying, "After I stopped at the store to get some gas, I was in a hurry, so at the last minute I bought $5 worth of LOTTO Quick Pick tickets.  I normally buy just $3 worth of tickets, but since the jackpot was at $15 million, I decided to buy $5. I'm glad I did now!" The winning ticket was bought at a 7-Eleven store in Seminole, on Starkey Road. Since the winning ticket was purchased at the 7-Eleven store, the 7-Eleven Company enjoyed a $5,000 bonus.

The new multi-millionaire family man, with wife and daughter at his side, opted to collect his prize money in 30 yearly payments of a whopping $256,000 each year. As Mark recounts his first reaction for hitting the big jackpot, he sets the scene. "I was having coffee and breakfast on my back porch the Sunday morning after the drawing when I saw the winning LOTTO numbers in our newspaper. When I saw that I had all six of the numbers, I nearly had a heart attack! I was in disbelief."

Along with Mr. Roberts, on Wednesday, Manuel Messina, a 70-year-old man from New Port Richey, claimed the other half of the Lotto jackpot win.