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Avery County Man ‘Tickled To Death’ Over Winning $78K in Cash 5 Jackpot Drawing

$113k Cash5 Benjamin Stout 2-8-16
Benjamin Stout, left, won $78,000 after taxes were withheld.

A birthday and anniversary added up to a lucky number for Benjamin Stout of Newland when he won half of a $226,638 Cash 5 jackpot.

Stout, who works for Baxter Health Care, was on a business trip to Canada the night of the Jan. 31. drawing, so he didn’t realize he won for several days.

“I was tickled to death when I found out how much I won,” Stout said.

Once his win started to sink in, Stout was so excited he couldn’t sleep. He claimed his half of the jackpot, $113,319, Monday morning. After required state and federal tax withholdings he received $78,481. Stout says he plans to pay bills and get his driveway paved.

He bought the $1 winning ticket at the Three Mile Quick Mart on Linville Falls Highway in Newland. Stout says he’s used the same numbers for the last five years, and those are a combination of birthdays and anniversaries.

The other half of the jackpot went to Clifton Thomasson of Cary. He bought his winning ticket at the Food Lion on Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville.

Ticket sales from games like Cash 5 made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. For details on how more than $6.8 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Avery County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website