ALBUQUERQUE – Every Friday night, Patrick Padilla of Mountainair buys a Scratcher ticket on his way home from work. On Nov. 16, his after-work routine resulted in a six-figure windfall.
Padilla won the first of three $200,000 top prizes in the New Mexico Lottery’s “Fiery Fortunes” Scratcher. He revealed the top prize after arriving home.
Above: Patrick Padilla, winner of $200,000 “Fiery Fortunes” Scratcher
“I got the shakes a little bit,” Patrick Padilla recalled for lottery officials in Albuquerque.
After discovering the prize, Padilla said he went to the kitchen to tell his wife, Patricia. She thought he was playing a prank.
“I showed her the ticket and she still didn’t believe it,” he said.
Patricia Padilla insisted that they take the ticket to a nearby store to confirm it as a winner.
“When (the clerk) started shaking, I knew it was real,” she said.
Patrick Padilla, who signed the ticket right away and hid it under the mattress, said his plans include buying a new car for his wife.
This is the Padillas second experience as lottery winners. Their 18-year-old daughter, Chelsea, has received a Legislative Lottery Scholarship to attend New Mexico State University where she studies nursing.
Patrick Padilla bought his lucky $20 ticket in Belen at Giant Station No. 39 located at 19384 Highway 85. A lottery retailer since 1996, the store has sold 25 other large prize-winning lottery tickets paying between $1,000 and $38,500.
Legislative Lottery College Scholarships
Since 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $539 million for education and more than 75,300 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. In the past 16 years, more than 600 students from Torrance County have attended college on $3.3 million in Legislative Lottery Scholarships.
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