Rodriquez DaCosta of Elkton is the second player in Cecil County to win a $1 million second-tier Powerball prize this year. The former locksmith played the right combination of numbers in the July 12 drawing to capture the prize. |
Becomes second Cecil County resident to win second-tier prize this year
Cecil County is certainly a lucky place for Maryland Lottery players to buy a Powerball ticket! Rodriquez DaCosta of Elkton is the second player in his county to win a $1 million second-tier Powerball prize this year and the third to win a sizable amount on the game since 2011.
The former locksmith always plays a combination of numbers cobbled together from some lucky Pick 3 plays. He bought what turned out to be his lucky ticket at Happy 40 Liquors in Elkton, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the last big Powerball winner in his county who claimed a $128.8 million prize in 2011 on a ticket sold at Wesley’s restaurant.
Rodriquez discovered that he held a winning ticket after checking his Maryland Lottery smartphone app. “I had heard that there was a winner where I bought the ticket, and when I took a look at the numbers, I thought that they looked pretty familiar,” the man said. Sure enough, he had matched five of the numbers drawn on July 12, minus the Powerball – meaning the piece of paper in his hand was now worth $1 million.
The 52-year-old said that the good news makes up for the past couple of years. A former National Archives employee, Rodriquez has been unemployed since March because of medical issues. “When I’m at my lowest, something comes through for me. I look at something like this and know that God works in mysterious ways,” he said.
The lucky winner is excited about the many possibilities for spending his prize. He plans to pay off the mortgage on his mother’s estate, for example, because the property has been in his family’s name for over 70 years. He can also use the funds to complete career retraining in computer technology. “It’s time to enjoy life and work smarter,” he said.
His lucky Elkton store, Happy 40 Liquors at 600 E. Pulaski Highway, will receive a $2,500 bonus for selling a second-tier winning Powerball ticket.