SWEET! Genevan Finds $4.85 Million Lottery Ticket in His Cookie Jar

OUTSIDE CHICAGO, IL -- “I can’t believe I had $4.85 million in a cookie jar for over three months!” said Ricardo Cerezo after recently checking some old Lottery tickets and discovering he had won a jackpot prize of $4,850,000 in the Feb. 2 Lotto drawing.

“I’m awestruck, this is unbelievable!” Cerezo said.

Today, May 15, 2013, Illinois Lottery officials presented him with a commemorative check at the Aurora 7-Eleven where he bought his winning ticket. 

At his wife’s urging, Cerezo took 11 tickets that had accumulated in their cookie jar to the store to check them. The first seven tickets he scanned were not winners, but when he placed the eighth ticket under the scanner, the message “File a claim” appeared.

“I thought I had probably won about $600,” Cerezo said.

From there, he double checked the winning numbers on illinoislottery.com and was shocked to see that his prize amount was not $600, rather $4.85 million.

Cerezo and his wife plan to pay bills, pay off their mortgage and share some of their winnings with their son and daughter. They also plan to contribute to their church and favorite charities.

“It is very important to us that we help others with this money,” Cerezo said.

Cerezo told Lotto officials he has been playing Lotto for several years. The ticket that won the Lotto jackpot was a Quick Pick purchased at 7-Eleven, 2411 West Sullivan Road in Aurora. The store received a bonus of $48,500 for selling a winning ticket.

After required state and federal withholding, Cerezo will receive $3.395 million.

When asked if he had advice for other Lottery players, the lucky Lotto winner said, “Play within your means, and when you buy a ticket believe that you can win. ... And check your old tickets!”

SOURCE: Illinois Lottery