Raleigh resident Jalen McLean couldn’t help but smile after a $10 scratch-off ticket turned into a $1 million prize. (North Carolina Educational Lottery)
Raleigh, N.C.
An 18-year-old North Carolina man turned $10 into a $1 million payday thanks to playing the lottery.
According to the North Carolina Education Lottery, Raleigh resident Jalen McLean couldn’t help but smile after a $10 scratch-off ticket turned into that $1 million prize.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the universe,” Jalen McLean said.
Lottery officials said McLean had given his sister, Dasha Silas, some money on Tuesday and asked her to pick out a scratch-off ticket for him.
Silas ended up choosing a $10 Jumbo Bucks ticket from a Valero gas station in Fayetteville and the two scratched off the ticket together.
When McLean finished scratching the ticket, his sister said he couldn’t help but smile.
“He had a huge smile on his face,” Silas said. “Like so big. it looked like the movie character Venom.”
McLean, the youngest of five siblings, laughed when trying to articulate what the win meant to him.
“How many 18-year-olds win something like this?” he said at lottery headquarters.
Lottery officials said McLean chose to receive his prize money as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years instead of a lump sum of $600,000.
So, for the next 19 years, until he is 38, he’ll get a check for $50,000 fulfilling the $1 million payout.
North Carolina lottery officials said he received his first payment on Wednesday, taking home $35,753 after taxes.
McLean said he plans to use his winnings to buy a new car.