Sweet Carolina: Two Instant Millionaires Minted Back-To-Back In North Carolina

The Tar Heel State is turning into the Well-Heeled State, at least for a couple of lucky lottery players.

Two new millionaires were crowned on successive days in separate instant-win games in North Carolina this month, each with her own noteworthy story.

And since North Carolina is a state in which winners of less than $5 million do not have the option to stay anonymous, the state lottery was able to provide plenty of details on each of these compelling winners.

Jumbo Bucks, indeed

Tonya Carter, a teacher at Warren County High School, was about to undergo an undisclosed surgical procedure and found herself wishing for a few extra dollars to help with the financial burden. So, although she told officials at the North Carolina Education Lottery of only playing the lottery “once or twice before,” she took a stab on a scratch-off ticket on July 17.

She walked into the On The Mark gas station/convenience store in Warrenton, N.C., bought a $10 Jumbo Bucks ticket, and did much more than just defray her medical costs. Carter won the $1 million top prize.

“I didn’t believe it,” she said the next day. “I’m still in shock.”

Carter had a choice between an annuity paying $50,000 a year for 20 years or a lump-sum payment of $600,000, and she went with the latter. After taxes, she took home $430,503.

The amount went far beyond what she needed to pay for her surgery, so she also plans to put some of the winnings toward helping her move.

There are still three million-dollar top prizes remaining among this current run of Jumbo Bucks tickets.

Double your pleasure

Greensboro’s Licette Griffin has also had success with the Jumbo Bucks scratch-off, having won a million-dollar top prize playing the North Carolina lottery game in April 2022. But it turned out that wasn’t her final seven-figure instant win.

On July 18, the very next day after Carter’s big score, Griffin played the Wheel of Bonuses digital instant game for $2 (tickets range from 50 cents to $30) and hit the top level “Epic” jackpot, which was worth $1.16 million.

“I ran to the bedroom to tell my husband and he saw me buckling to the floor,” Griffin told lottery officials six days later, when she came in to claim her second million-dollar prize in a little over three years. “I literally went to the floor, I was so weak at the knees.”

After taxes, Griffin’s $1.16 million win came out to $836,318. She said he plans to use the winnings to pay off her mortgage and save for retirement — and to double up on her husband’s birthday present.

“I won the day after my husband’s birthday,” she said. “He wanted a pair of shoes for his birthday, so we went to Tanger and bought two pairs instead.”