Single Mom’s Lottery Mistake Wins $14 Million
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(SANTA ANA, Calif.) — A single mother of four sons in California managed to turn a $1 mistake into a $14 million lottery win.
Thuan Le, of Santa Ana, Calif., went to her local CVS last Wednesday, as she does every week, to purchase $4 worth of Powerball tickets and a $1 SuperLotto Plus ticket. Instead of depositing her usual $5 in the machine, however, she mistakenly placed $6, according to California Lottery officials.
With the extra $1, Le purchased an extra SuperLotto Plus ticket that, the next day, turned her into a multi-millionaire.
“We thought she was joking,” her son told California Lottery officials. “But we thought would she really joke like this? My older brother said, ‘Yes, she would.’”
Fortunately for Le’s four sons, their mother was not joking. After first “screaming,” when she realized she had the matching numbers, Le drove to the California Lottery’s Santa Ana District Office to claim her prize.
Le, whose name was released as required by California law, chose not to have her photo or other information publicly released. Attempts by ABC News to reach her were not successful.
Le plans to use her winnings to, “buy a house, travel, and visit her parents in Vietnam,” according to a lottery news release.
The CVS where she purchased her ticket will receive a bonus of $70,000, for selling the winning ticket. A representative for CVS also declined to comment.
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