Cornelius Veteran Wins $4M Lottery Using Fortune Cookie Numbers

CORNELIUS, NC — Cornelius resident Gabriel Fierro goes out to eat with his wife at Red Bowl in Charlotte once a week, but this time he got a fortune cookie and held onto it.

Fierro used the numbers on the cookie and played last week's Mega Millions online, turning his $3 ticket into $4 million in winnings.

Fierro is a retired master sergeant who spent 32 years in the Army. He retired as a disabled combat veteran.

“I don’t usually play my fortune cookie numbers but I tried them on a whim,” Fierro told the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Fierro bought his Mega Millions ticket online and added $1 to make it a Megaplier ticket to multiply any win. He matched all five white balls to win $1 million, and then the prize quadrupled to $4 million when the 4X Megaplier hit. His $4 million prize became the largest win in the history of Online Play in North Carolina.

“I got an email in the morning and I just stared at it dumbfounded,” Fierro said. “I took it and showed it to my wife and she thought it was an April Fool’s joke or maybe a scam.”

After the win sunk in, the celebration began. “We started running around the house,” Fierro said, “screaming like a bunch of banshees.”

He took home $2,840,401 after taxes and said he planned to invest most of his winnings but he did have one small purchase in mind.

“We are going to buy some champagne on the way home,” Fierro laughed.