A grandfather who won a $172,000 prize from the New Mexico Lottery said the
windfall would ensure that his granddaughter – a straight-A student at Gallup
High School – attends college.
Paul Begay matched all five numbers - 5, 17, 22, 24 and 30 -in the Roadrunner
CashÔ drawing for Feb. 1. The 58-year-old mechanic for P&M Coal discovered
his good fortune six days after the drawing. While warming up his truck
for the drive home from work, Begay remembered that he had an unchecked ticket.
He retrieved the ticket from his back pocket and saw that the ticket’s numbers
matched the drawing’s winning numbers. Begay beat it home where his family
was overjoyed by the good news.
“We all jumped up and down,” said Begay’s wife Josephine, adding that their
children and grandchildren decided that they had to go with their prize-winning
patriarch to claim his winnings at lottery headquarters in Albuquerque.
Begay plans to invest some of the prize for granddaughter Delaine Charlie’s
college education. The high school senior, who wants to study medicine or
biology, has narrowed her sights on Adams College in Colorado and New Mexico
State University in Las Cruces. If she stays in New Mexico, Charlie would
be eligible for a Legislative Lottery Scholarship, an in-state college tuition
program funded by the net revenues from the sale of all New Mexico Lottery
games.
Begay’s winning ticket was purchased at T&R Market on Highway 491 in Gallup.
$340 Million Raised for Education
Since its inception in 1996, the lottery has raised $340 million for public
education in New Mexico and more than 48,000 students have received Legislative
Lottery Scholarships.
As of the Spring 2007 semester, more than 14,500 high school graduates
from Bernalillo County have received $74.4 million in Legislative Lottery
Scholarships.
Information on Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com..
