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Last updated on Thursday, June 6, 2013
(DUGGER) - A retired Dugger couple is $1.5 million dollars richer after they hit it big after scratching off a Hoosier Lottery ticket. Joseph and Linda Mentillo claimed their winnings Tuesday morning.
67-year-old Linda purchased the winning $5, "Cash For Life" scratch ticket at the Pimento Sunoco Service Station, on U.S. 41 in southern Vigo County. The couple was on their way to buy deer feed when they stopped at the service station.
Linda scratched part of the ticket off and was ecstatic because she thought she had won $2,500. The couple was driving down the road when Joe, who is a part-time custodian at Linton-Stockton Junior High School scratched the rest of the prize field and discovered they were looking at significantly more - they had won one of the game's top prizes of $2,500 a week for life.
The couple was given the option of taking a $2,500 weekly cash payout of the rest of Linda's life, or $1.5 million in a lump sum amount before taxes. The Mentillos opted for the lump sum payout.
At the top of their wish list is a completely paid-off mortgage. Beyond that, the couple plan to get their lawn mower fixed and maybe buy a bike, because Joe is an avid bicyclist. At 68-year-old, Joe plans to ride in the Hoosier Hilly Hundred this fall.
Joe is retired from Indiana State University where he worked for 37 years in Information Technology. Linda retired five years ago after working 34 years at a bank.
Joe is hesitant to quit his part-time job as a janitor at the school. He says they have to finish resealing the gym floor before he can make any plans to retire.
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