Kentucky man wins $1 million lottery after buying ticket during emergency fuel stop
- Michael Schlemmer purchased a $20 Lottery scratch-off ticket on May 17 and won a staggering $1million
- He pulled into a mini mart along US Highway 25 in Corbin to refuel
- On May 18, he got his first payout at Lottery headquarters collecting a check for $616,330 after taxes
A Kentucky man making an emergency fuel stop was stunned after he purchased a $20 Lottery scratch-off ticket and won the $1million jackpot.
Michael Schlemmer was driving along US Highway 25 on May 17 in Corbin, Kentucky when he said he pulled over to the Convenient Food Mart to refuel.
‘I ran out of gas, and I coasted in there,’ he said, unaware that it would be his lucky day.
Schlemmer said he only had $40 on him, and spent $20 on gas and the remaining $20 on a lotto ticket.
‘I scratched it off and I looked at it and went back in the store. I showed the girls that sold it to me, and they about had a fit,’ he said. ‘The owners of the store were there, and they both started grinning.’
Schlemmer admitted ‘nothing went through his mind’ at first until he went to the Lottery headquarters on May 18 and was handed a check for $616,330 after taxes.
Michael Schlemmer was stunned upon learning that he was the Kentucky Lottery Scratch-off winner. He is pictured holding up a check of the $1million jackpot
The convience store that Schlemmer walked into on May 17 is located on US Highway 25 West in Corbin, Kentucky. The store will receive $8,620 for selling the winning ticket
Schlemmer unearthed the automatic symbol to win the game’s $1,000,000 top prize, according to Kentucky Lottery officials.
Officials said he chose to take the game’s lump sum cash payment of $862,000 instead of annuity payments.
The Kentucky Lottery posted a congratulatory post of Schlemmer with a photo of him holding his grand prize
Before Schlemmer took home the top prize, he had been looking to purchase a car, and had told the dealership, ‘I’m waiting for a big check to come in and then I hit that,’ Schelmmer said.
Now with his new winnings, he plans to buy a newer vehicle and the rest, he said, will be placed in the bank.
The convenience store where the winning ticket was sold will also receive a payout of $8,620, as per, lottery officials said.
According to the agency’s website, the Kentucky Lottery funds educational programs, grants and scholarships for Kentuckians.
The site also points out that the odds of winning any of a number of prizes from the scratch-off ticket are 1 in 3.57.
Since 1999, the lottery has raised more than $4.4 billion in funding.
