A back-to-school backpack search leads lucky dad to $1 million in the Florida lottery
Back to school is fraught with so many issues this season.
For one lucky Florida father, the issue is how to spend a near million-dollar windfall.
According to the Florida Lottery, 47-year-old Cleveland Pope, of Hernando County’s Brooksville, claimed a $1 million prize from the Billion Dollar Gold Rush Supreme Scratch-Off game at Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee on Aug. 12.
The happy dad gives some credit to a back-to-school journey that put him and the winning ticket in hand.
“I just happened to be on a different side of town from where I normally buy Lottery tickets, all because I was looking for a specific backpack for my daughter to start school with,” Pope told the Florida Lottery.
Pope purchased his winning ticket from Beverage 50 in the 16000 block of Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville. The retailer gets a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.
Pope chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $880,000.
Other Lottery winners
Pope joins several other new big winners in the Florida Lottery.
There’s Wilma Todd, the grandma from Jacksonville, who won $1 million in the $5,000,000 CASHWORD Scratch-Off game but who told Lottery officials on Aug. 10 that she plans to continue working for a bit until a replacement can be trained to take over her shift.
And, also on Aug. 12, Adam Charlton, 48, of Port Charlotte, claimed a $15 million top prize from the Billion Dollar Gold Rush Supreme game that Pope had also played elsewhere, according to the Lottery.
That game has prizes ranging from $30 to $15 million.
Charlton, who chose his winnings as a lump-sum $13.2 million, bought his ticket from a Publix on Tamiami Trail in Punta Gorda. The store gets a whopping $30,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 10:17 AM.
