Alexandria Man Wins $10 Million Lottery Prize

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- If he’d known he was holding a ticket worth $10 million, George Coffroad might have been a bit more careful with it. When the Alexandria man went to his car with Virginia Lottery Scratcher tickets he’d just bought, he tossed them on the floor of the car, the Virginia Lottery said in their announcement about the big win Thursday.

It wasn’t until later at home, when he scratched his 100x the Money ticket, that he discovered he’d won the game’s $10 million top prize. Coffroad is the biggest Scratcher winner in the Virginia Lottery’s history, lottery officials said.

“I thought it was incorrect,” he later said. “It took quite a few minutes to settle in.” On Thursday, he received his check from the Virginia Lottery. He had a choice of taking the full $10 million over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $5,617,977 before taxes. He chose the cash option, lottery officials said.

Coffroad bought the ticket at Landmark Towers Sunoco, 190 South Whiting Street in Alexandria, in the City's West End. The store receives a $50,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Coffroad, who is a small business owner, said he has no immediate plans for his winnings. “It’s a game-changer,” he said. “It must have been my turn.”

The 100x the Money scratch-off game features prizes ranging from $30 to $10 million, including a $1 million second prize. Two more $10 million tickets remain unclaimed in this game, according to the Lottery. The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 2,611,200. The odds of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 2.78, according to the Lottery.

The Virginia Lottery generated a record $588 million for Virginia’s public schools in Fiscal Year 2016.

PHOTO of George Coffroad courtesy of Virginia Lottery