Eric Cargain, a former Free Press staff from 2000 to 2009 was transferred to Jacksonville in 2009 after The Free Press and its sister papers consolidated their printing operations to save money.  Since then he has been commuting from Kingston to Jacksonville for nearly three years, burning lots of  and money in the process.  However his recent $60, 000 N.C Education Lottery prize will make it up to him somehow.

Lottery officials announced Tuesday that  Cargain had won the $60,354 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot during the drawing last Friday night. Cargain had selected number 1-4-7-17-25.  Before this winning he had admitted that he had never won anything in the lottery other than a  couple of bucks here and there. State lottery

He bought the ticket on Friday morning after work at 6 a.m. and  stopped at Wilco gas station in Richlands on his way home. According to Cargain, he plays those five numbers every time and he usually purchases his lottery tickets at the same Wilco station.

“It’s kind of hit or miss,  I usually play when I stop there for gas,” he said. “I just figured I’d play my ticket, and every once in a while win two or three numbers”.

Cargain signed up to receive news of a win by text message, and was surprised by a text he received at around 3 a.m. Saturday stating that all five of his numbers matched. Lottery winning numbers

When Cargain, who still resides in Kinston, walked into The Free Press’ North Queen Street offices Tuesday afternoon, he was applauded, hugged and cheered by from former co-workers, and also received  jokes about whether he could lend people money, or if he had cashed his prize check yet.

When asked what he plans to do with his check, he has admitted to want to pay off his car and to finish school.

According to a Lottery News Release, another major lottery prize remains unclaimed as of Tuesday — someone purchased a winning $57 million ticket in the national Mega Millions drawing. The ticket was recently sold at a Kangaroo Express on Southwest Greenville Boulevard in Greenville. Lottery checker

About North Carolina Education Lottery

100 percent of the net proceeds of the North Carolina Education Lottery will go to education expenses, including reduced class size in early grades, academic prekindergarten programs, school construction, and scholarships for college and university students in need.