Luck found Ronald Chiles in Pineville, where a $1 Carolina Cash 5 ticket he bought at a Food Lion turned into a six-figure payday. The York County resident matched all five numbers in the March 24 drawing, then made the trip to Raleigh to claim his prize, ultimately walking away with about $344,450 after required federal and state withholdings. Chiles did not immediately say what he plans to do with the money.
According to The Charlotte Observer, the winning ticket matched numbers 19, 21, 24, 39 and 41 in the March 24 drawing. The paper reports the gross payout for the winning play was $478,336 and that Chiles officially claimed the prize on Thursday, leaving him with roughly $344,450 after taxes were withheld. The Observer notes that Chiles declined to disclose any specific plans for his sudden windfall.
How Cash 5 Works
Carolina Cash 5 players pick five numbers from 1 to 43; matching all five wins the parimutuel jackpot, and the odds of hitting the top prize are about 1 in 962,598, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery game summary on Wikipedia. Those long odds help explain why advertised jackpots can look much larger than the sums winners actually take home after federal and state withholdings. For players, the game’s low ticket price and frequent drawings mean small purchases can occasionally produce major local headlines.
Where The Ticket Was Sold
The winning play was purchased at a Pineville Food Lion. The grocer’s store listing shows a Pineville location at 317 S. Polk St. and identifies the chain as the retail seller. Chiles lives in York County just across the South Carolina line from Charlotte, making this a cross‑border claimant who went to Raleigh to process his payout, per The Charlotte Observer. Large claims are handled at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, where identification is required and taxes are withheld at the time of payment, which is why winners’ take‑home amounts are smaller than the advertised prize.
Chiles’s jackpot is the latest Cash 5 win reported around the region this year; Hoodline has tracked several recent six‑figure winners who bought routine $1 plays and later claimed payouts at the lottery’s Raleigh office. For readers who want the official breakdown of game rules, recent winning numbers and claim procedures, the North Carolina Education Lottery’s Cash 5 page has details and the state’s guidance for prize claims.
