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NC woman wins $2M Powerball prize after missing previous drawing deadline

By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Lottery winner Elizabeth Johnson won $2 million in a Powerball drawing last week. (North Carolina Education Lottery)

By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

RALEIGH, N.C. — Being late can be beneficial. At least that is the case for a North Carolina woman whose tardiness resulted in a $2 million payday.

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Elizabeth Johnson, of Lucama, rushed to the store on May 19 to buy a quick pick Powerball ticket, WITN reported. She bought the ticket but missed the 9:57 p.m. EDT deadline, so her numbers were entered into the May 23 drawing, North Carolina lottery officials said in a news release.

“It was definitely a shock!” said Johnson. “When I got the message saying that I had won I thought, ‘Well, I didn’t even play tonight.’”

Johnson’s $3 Power Play ticket matched all five white balls and earned her $1 million, lottery officials said. Because Johnson had a 2X multiplier, her winnings doubled to 2 million.

The odds of matching all five white balls are 1 in 11.6 million, according to lottery officials.

Johnson traveled to lottery headquarters on Thursday to pick up her prize.

Johnson, who works as an interpreter, took home $1,415,001 after required federal and state tax withholdings, lottery officials said in a news release. She said see planned to buy a house and go on vacation.

“The kids want to go to Disneyland,” Johnson said. “We’ve never been and now we’ll get to.”

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