Charlotte, N.C. — Some people would call Belinda Cohen one of the luckiest people in the state. The Mecklenburg County woman won a portion of a Cash 5 jackpot of $1,065,423 on Friday less than 10 years after winning another jackpot.
Cohen’s first win came in 2008, when she won $363,041.
“It’s like being struck by lightning twice,” Cohen said. “What are the odds?”
Cohen had purchased several Quick Pick tickets for Thursday’s drawing at the 7-Eleven in Charlotte. On Friday, she was declared a winner for a second time.
“I started shaking,” Cohen said. “I didn’t sleep at all that night.”
Cohen claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, receiving a third of the jackpot, $355,141. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $246,826.
She plans to use the money to pay off her mortgage, according to a press release from the lottery.
The other winning tickets were sold at the Kangaroo Express on South Polk Street in Pineville, and Stanleyville Grocery on North Patterson Avenue in Winston Salem. Winners have 180 days to claim their prize. The odds of winning a Cash 5 jackpot are 1 in 749,398.