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THE ILLINOIS LOTTERY BRIGHTENS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH A CHECK FOR $11,250,000 FOR A MINOOKA COUPLE
December 14, 2011
Craig and Janet Gossett of Minooka are regular Lotto players who normally use their anniversary and birthdays as their numbers for Lotto. But on December 10th, Craig opted for a Quick Pick and soon found out that his ticket matched all six numbers (07 - 10 - 15 - 16 - 40 – 44) and he was the sole winner of the $11,250,000 Lotto jackpot.
Craig, 44, a truck driver for Black Horse Carriers in Minooka, bought his Lotto ticket at a BP Fresh N Go station in Morris. “I checked my ticket at the store, and when I saw I had won, my hands started shaking and wouldn’t stop,” Craig said. “This win could not have come at a better time for us. The past six years have been hard, especially around the holidays. We feel truly blessed.”
Janet says she still can’t believe it’s true. “When Craig walked in the front door, his face was white as a ghost and he said I have something to tell you. I thought for sure that he was going to tell me something bad.”
Instead Craig told her that they had just won the Lottery. She didn’t believe him until he showed her the numbers.
Janet, 41, volunteers in her community and said their first call was to their parents and siblings. “I called my mom and dad who drove in from Indiana to go with us to the Lottery office in Springfield.” Craig’s parents accompanied the couple to the check ceremony today in Chicago.
The Gossett’s elected to receive a one-time payment of $8,290,350 (rather than $11,250,000 paid in 26 installments). The couple said the first thing they’re going to do with their lottery prize money is pay off their bills and buy a house so they have a place to retire. They are also planning a modest vacation for the near future.
The Illinois Lottery will present the BP station in Morris that sold the winning Lotto ticket with a $112,500 bonus check next week. The Gossett’s were joined today in the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago with another recent Lottery winner, Roxanna Nye of Tiskilwa, who won $1,000,000 playing the popular scratch game, $200,000,000 Cash Spectacular.
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