• Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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19 years old, single — and now with $17 million

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VARGAS POWERBALL WINNER

Jonathan Vargas, 19, explains how he won a $35 million Powerball jackpot. | View larger image

Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Vargas bought his first lottery ticket, along with gasoline and an iced tea, Saturday. He needn't buy another one.

Vargas won $35.3 million, though he chose the lump-sum option of $17.3 million instead. He should have his money within two weeks, lottery officials said. “I have a mixture of feelings. Scary. Exciting. Still shocking,” Vargas said. “I’m still telling my mother to pinch me.”

Vargas said he was working a construction job Saturday morning when “this weird feeling came over me.” He said he heard the lottery numbers in his head, jotted them on a napkin and called his mother to tell her to write them down so he could buy a ticket later that afternoon.

Read the full story at thestate.com.

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