Pilot discovers he won big NC lottery prize while at kitchen table. ‘Still in shock’
A North Carolina man checked his lottery ticket at his kitchen table — and the prize sent him yelling for his wife.
“She kept saying ‘Are you serious, are you serious,’” winner Barry Cozart said in a news release. “I finally convinced her.”
Cozart scored the $150,000 prize after he went to Quickie Mart in Hillsborough, roughly 35 miles northwest of Raleigh. While at the convenience store, he spent $3 on a Powerball ticket, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.
He bought the ticket for the Oct. 31 drawing, when the game’s top prize was $1 billion.
“Usually when it’s over $100 million I start buying tickets,” Cozart told lottery officials.
While Cozart missed out on the bigger Powerball jackpot, his ticket matched enough numbers to be worth $150,000. When he found out, he asked his wife to get off her conference call so she could get a glance for herself.
Cozart, a 59-year-old Orange County resident working as a helicopter pilot, kept $106,516 after taxes, officials said.
“I’m still in shock,” Cozart said in the news release.
After no one hit the jackpot in the Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 drawings, the top Powerball prize is now an estimated $1.5 billion — a near record amount. The next drawing is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 8:07 AM with the headline "Pilot discovers he won big NC lottery prize while at kitchen table. ‘Still in shock’."
