Montgomery Coal Miner Wins $250,000 Mega Millions Prize
September 28, 2011
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia Lottery Director John Musgrave announced today that Roger Scott of Montgomery has claimed a $250,000 prize by matching five numbers for the September 23 Mega Millions™ drawing.
Scott, a coal miner for Alpha Resources, claimed his winnings at West Virginia Lottery Headquarters in Charleston on Wednesday. He was accompanied by his wife Cindi and his two daughters – Alyssa and Brooke.
“I usually play about $4 worth of lottery games each week and have for years,” Scott said. “I bought this single ticket on Friday and on Saturday I was at a gas station and I asked a clerk at a gas station for the print out of the numbers and then went back to my truck. I started checking each number at a time and then I didn’t hit the Mega Ball. I figured it was still worth something, but was not sure how much.
“I asked the clerk to run it through the machine and it came out saying it was a winning ticket that I had to claim in Charleston, so the clerk told me it had to be a decent winner.”
That is when Scott called his daughter Brooke and asked her to look for the prize amount online.
“I went to the website and when I saw the prizes I started shaking,” Brooke said. “I could not believe it.”
Scott told his daughter to keep it quiet until her mother returned from a weekend trip.
“I did not know he won that amount until Sunday evening,” Cindi said. “He texted me that he won a couple thousand playing the lottery, so I am thinking he won a much smaller prize. He then tells me he might buy a truck, and I am thinking a used truck, and then he calls me on my way home Sunday.”
The Scott’s say they play to pay off their house, car and buy a new truck with the winnings. They also plan to put some away for Alyssa and Brooke’s future weddings.
Scott purchased the winning ticket at Go Mart #22 on Rt. 60 West in Cedar Grove. He also knows that last Friday’s megaplier was four and had he paid $1 more for the Megaplier™ option his winnings would have been $1 million.
“I thought about that,” Scott said. “A lot of the time, I do play with the Megaplier™ option, but I am not complaining.”
