Chances of winning a big prize in any raffle game are pretty slim, but 70-year-old John Kusewicz, Jr., a Warren County native, bucked the odds to win what could as well be his grand retirement. He won the second prize of $25,000 a year for life playing Lucky For Life, a multi-state lottery game.
In an earlier article entitled $25,000 a Year for Life Ticket Sold in Warren, we talked about an unclaimed winning ticket that was sold in Warren, turns out 70-year-old John Kusewicz, Jr. is the holder of that ticket and is now officially confirmed as the 22nd Michigan player to win a lifetime prize in the multi-state Lucky For Life game.
As previously stated in the above-referred article, Kusewicz bought his winning ticket at Tina’s Tobacco Outlet of Warren, set on 4230 East 10 Mile Road in Warren.
His ticket was just the lucky ball number shy of winning the games ultimate prize of $1,000 every day for life. However, Kusewicz’s correct prediction of five of the six possible Lucky For Life winning numbers, drawn on Monday night – 14-17-18-21-48 – won him the games second life-changing prize.
“I woke up Tuesday morning checked my numbers and couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Kusewicz. “I called my wife over and told her to look at the computer. She was shocked.
“We’ve had some struggles since I retired, and this win will be very helpful to leave those days behind us.”
When Kusewicz walked into the Michigan Lottery headquarters in Lansing on Thursday, to claim his big prize, he had two choices on how to receive the winnings. He could either choose to receive annual payments of $25,000 a year, for a minimum payment period of twenty years or go for the one-time lump sum cash payment. He chose the one-time lump sum payment, which $390,000.
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