Henry Daily Herald

Special Photo Joseph Burnette has won a $2.5 million top prize playing the instant game Millionaire Jumbo Bucks.

“I play the lottery more than I should,” said Joseph Burnette. “I knew I was on the losing curve until last week.”

Burnette, 31, recently won $2.5 million top prize playing the instant game Millionaire Jumbo Bucks. He received an oversized check Wednesday at Georgia Lottery headquarters in Atlanta.

“I am happy, ecstatic, and shocked,” added Burnette, of Loganville. “I’m going to get a car and a computer. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, it won’t sink in until I actually have [the money], when I can go to a car dealership and pick-out which car I want.”

Burnette purchased the winning lottery ticket at the Stockbridge Citgo, located at 115 Highway 138 W. in Stockbridge, and a Georgia Millions instant ticket that revealed a $20 prize the same day, according to Kimberly M. Starks, Media Relations Specialist for the Georgia Lottery Corporation.

Burnette scratched both in the store.

“I was going for gas, and I paid for it,” Burnette explained. “I didn’t even get the gas. I fell down.”

He was born and raised in Greenville, S. C., and moved to Georgia earlier this month from Fredericksburg, Va.

Burnette said he would play the lottery in Virginia. He said he would usually spend about $40 per week on tickets.

“I never won anything , playing the Virginia Lottery,” he added. “I won $500, a week after I arrived in Georgia. I purchased the ticket at Publix grocery store near Northlake Mall [in DeKalb County].”

Burnette is a fairgrounds concessions manager, for McNair Amusements.

“I am going to continue to work as a concessions manager,” he said. “I have been working with them for a couple of months.”

According to Burnette, winning millions in the Georgia lottery, has concluded his regular routine of weekly purchasing lotto tickets.

“I am done playing the lottery,” he said. “This only happens once in a lifetime. At least I can say when I retired from playing the lottery I was on the winning side. I have never seen a grand prize ticket, until now. I usually see thousand dollar ticket winners photos, because they hang them on the walls. Now, mine is hanging on the wall.”

He said he would have like to have been able to share his winnings with his mother, who passed away several years ago. However, he said the rest of his family is happy for him.

“Thank you Georgia Lottery, it changed my life,” said Burnette. “I am used to living on $1,500 a month. I drove a 1999 Cavalier. I use to worry about paying my bills every month, but now I can take a deep sigh of relief for once.”

According to lottery officials, since the first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $13.6 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.4 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary pre-kindergarten program.