NewsOffbeat

Actions

Former homeless man wins lottery just before Christmas

Posted at 6:21 PM, Dec 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-20 18:21:42-05

DENVER —  A man who was homeless at one time got an early Christmas present from the Colorado Lottery. On Wednesday, lottery officials surprised Diego with a check for $250,000.

He won the money in a second-chance drawing for the scratch game Wonka’s Golden Ticket. The lottery crew surprised him at work in Denver with a big check. And it was quite the surprise.

Diego broke down in tears of joy as he expressed his gratitude. He talked about his struggles of living in his car when he first moved to Colorado.

“I keep thinking I don’t deserve this,” Diego said. “I’m going to make a lot of people happy with this money.”

Diego has a son who is 6 years old in Iowa. He plans to buy him a lot of Christmas presents. He also has plans for some land near Alamosa that include building a home.