NC lotto winner still plans to attend grad school

by the Associated Press
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:57 PM EDT

RALEIGH (AP) — A former real estate broker searching for a job said Tuesday he may use his $29 million in lottery winnings to buy a house or a car or “some fast boats.”
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Jeffrey Wilson, 27, of Kings Mountain appeared in Raleigh to redeem the $88 million ticket he bought from a local gas station for Saturday’s drawing. He decided to take a lump sum payment of about $42 million, or $29 million after taxes.

Wilson said he was a real estate broker until about five months ago and recently got accepted into graduate school, which he still plans to attend starting in August.

“I wouldn’t mind working,” Wilson said. “Hopefully, I can find me a job.”

Considering himself an average guy with a close group of friends and close family, Wilson said while the jackpot will change his life, it won’t change who he is.

Wilson’s father, Bill Wilson, said he bought the winning ticket along with several other tickets Saturday night right before the deadline.

“I’m a lottery freak,” Bill Wilson said. “I told everyone for years that I was going to hit it. Nobody believed it.”

Bill Wilson said he shared the tickets with his family members and everyone picked one.

“Unfortunately, he got it instead of me,” Bill Wilson said as he hugged his son.

Wilson is North Carolina’s second Powerball winner. Jackie Alston of Halifax won a jackpot of $74 million in November 2006.

Copyright © 2009 Roanoke Daily Herald

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