Essex Man 'Set for Life' After Lottery Win

Marcelino Vilcarino Sr. thought someone was playing a prank on him last month when he received a call from the Maryland Lottery telling him he won its "Set for Life 2" drawing’s top prize of a $1,000 a week for 20 years.

“I told him don’t call back until we can look into this,” said his son, Marcelino Vilcarino Jr.

The younger Vilcarino then researched the contest, which included going onto the Maryland Lottery’s website, which is where he saw his father’s name listed among the winners.

“His name was right there on the website,” said Vilcarino Jr., of Parkville. “Then about 12:15 in the morning I called him up and said ‘You really won.’”

Vilcarino Sr., 66, of Essex, celebrated his win Wednesday at Sabatino’s in Little Italy with family, friends and coworkers during a ceremony at the restaurant where he has worked for 15 years.

The Peru native’s name was randomly selected from more than 40,000 entrants who collected the letters C-A-S-H from "Set for Life 2" scratch-offs and mailed them in to the lottery.

Vilcarino Sr. opted to take the cash option, which came out to $542,544.01 after taxes. This came after he won $10,000 playing "Mega Millions" just a few years ago.

“This couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” Sabatino’s general manager Philip Culotta told the Maryland Lottery in a statement.

The father of two and grandfather of four plans on using his winnings to purchase a house for his daughter, buy an SUV—to drive all the grandkids around—and possibly take his family on a nice vacation.

However, Vilcarino Jr. said his father has no plans to retire from Sabatino’s—where he works three to four days a week—anytime soon.

“The whole restaurant was cheering for him,” Vilcarino Jr. said. “He really enjoys working there.”

Vilcarino Sr.’s good fortune was just the latest this week for local Maryland Lottery players. On Monday, Oliver Beach resident Anna Belle Davis claimed a $1 million prize from a winning scratch-off ticket. Also, an Abingdon couple claimed following last Wednesday’s drawing.