Alabama Trucker Wins Cash 5 Jackpot During a Routine Haul

Jonathan Hodge, a trucker from Luverne, Alabama, ended one of his routine hauls by winning a $120,000 Cash 5 jackpot using random numbers.

Truck Driver Wins North Carolina Education Lottery Cash 5 Jackpot

According to a May 16 North Carolina Education Lottery press release, Hodge purchased his ticket online for the Thursday, May 8 drawing and chose the Quick Pick option, which lets the terminal or retailer randomly generate the numbers. Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina that gives players the option to purchase tickets either at a retail location or through Online Play via the lottery’s website or the official NC Lottery mobile app.

Cash 5 jackpot is claimed by matching all five white balls in any order, with smaller prizes awarded for matching two to four numbers. However, luck was on Hodge’s side as his ticket matched all five numbers in the drawing. The odds of hitting all five are 1 in 962,598, according to the press release. 

Looking at it like this, one has to wonder what the odds are of winning the same game’s jackpot not once, but twice. However, this is exactly what happened last year when a lucky man struck two jackpots in two months playing the Cash 5 game, gathering well over $660,000 in winnings.

But back to the current winner, the North Carolina Education Lottery reported that Hodge has already claimed his prize at lottery headquarters. After federal and state taxes were withheld, he took home $86,109. The lottery’s press release also quoted the lucky winner, saying he couldn’t initially believe he had won. “I kept reading it over and over,” Hodge said. He further explained that he plans to use the money for a down payment on a house.

More About the North Carolina Education Lottery

North Carolina has one of the newest lottery systems in the United States, established in 2005 through the North Carolina State Lottery Act. This legislation created a nine-member Lottery Commission responsible for managing all aspects of the education lottery. 

Since ticket sales began in 2006, 100% of the lottery’s net proceeds have been directed toward supporting education in the state (hence the “Educational” in the name), totaling over $10 billion to date. By law, these funds help cover school construction, need-based college financial aid, student transportation, salaries for non-instructional support staff, and pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds. 

The State Lottery Act clearly defines how every dollar generated by the lottery must be used, with 51% going to paying prizes, 38% into the education fund, 7% paid to the retailers who sold lottery tickets, and the remaining 4% going to general lottery expenses.