Retired US Army Sergeant In Virginia Wins $958K Lottery Jackpot After 21 Years Of Service

A veteran who served in the Army for more than two decades can retire a little easier after winning a near million dollar Virginia Lottery jackpot.

When Chester resident Christopher Leydic - also a veteran lotto player - saw that the Cash 5 with EZ Match game reverted to it's $200,000 starting point, he says he thought to himself "oh, somebody won it" over the weekend.

Days later, he realized that he, in fact, was the one who won the $958,740 jackpot on the Saturday, Aug. 17 drawing to reset that jackpot.

All from a ticket that was purchased online.

“It was unbelievable!” Leydic told Lottery officials. “I thought, ‘Is this real?’”

The winning numbers on that fateful day were: 10 - 15 - 31 - 36 - 43 .

Leydic, who retired from the Army as a first sergeant after 21 years, says that there are no immediate plans for the unexpected cash windfall, other than paying off some outstanding bills and stashing the rest away for a rainy day.

According to Virginia Lottery officials, Cash 5 with EZ Match features a rolling jackpot starting at a minimum of $200,000.

The odds of matching all five numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 1,221,759.

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