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American Morning
Man Wins Record $141 Million Jackpot
Aired June 29, 2001 - 09:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A retired grocery clerk has bagged a record lotto jackpot in California. Alcario Castellano, of San Jose, came forward yesterday and claimed the $141 million prize. That is the biggest state prize ever. He chose the lump-sum payment, of about $71 million -- that is before Uncle Sam gets his cut.
Joining us now with more on the lucky lotto winner is reporter Sharon Chin of our affiliate KPIX.
Hi -- Sharon.
SHARON CHIN, KPIX REPORTER: Hi there.
He's, in fact, bagged that record lotto jackpot. He lives here at this home in San Jose. Sixty-six-year-old Alcario Castellano and wife Carmen are California's newest multimillionaires.
Last week, Castellano did what he usually does, nearly every week: He buys a quick-pick ticket at a neighborhood liquor store. The day after the lotto drawing, he opened the newspaper over his morning coffee, and the couple was stunned to discover his ticket matched all six winning numbers.
After checking and rechecking the numbers, Carmen Castellano did a dance.
While the media hovered around the liquor store where he bought the winning ticket, Castellano laid low for five days, to avoid the media.
Finally, yesterday afternoon, he and his family quietly claimed the prize at the San Francisco lottery office. The only media there was a columnist they invited from the San Jose Mercury News.
The Castellanos, who met at a high school dance in Salinas are active in the Mexican-American community. He serves on a number of community boards and leads the local American G.I. Forum, a Latino veteran's group.
He chose to receive the prize in a lump sum. That means he'll receive $43 million after federal taxes. What will they do with the money? He says he'll travel a bit more and pay for the graduate school education of their two daughters.
I'm Sharon Chin, reporting live, in San Jose.
HARRIS: Sharon, before we let you go: Any word on whether or not he's had any mysterious long-lost relatives he hasn't heard from in 100 years show up on the front porch, or is he starting to hear from old college and high school friends?
CHIN: Not yet, because not a lot of people actually know that he's won yet. He's just kept it to himself and his family for the last five days, only going public last night, at one Spanish-speaking TV station. That's how we got the video.
It's all coming out today. Maybe those "long-lost relatives" will come out afterwards.
HARRIS: No doubt at all. Silence has been golden so far; let's see how long that lasts.
Sharon Chin, thanks much, we'll talk to you some other time.
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