New Mexicans try their luck at $1.35 billion jackpot

Jan. 12—Veronica Trujillo and her son Peter walked up to the checkout counter at a Sawmill Road Speedway on Thursday morning with hopes of striking gold in the form of flimsy, yellow pieces of paper.

The 55-year-old retiree said she has been buying lottery tickets for about 20 years, purchasing at least one ticket with her special set of numbers each and every time.

But this purchase was different because the stakes are so high. Only one other time has the Mega Millions jackpot been so big or enticing.

Like millions of other Americans, Trujillo bought her regular Mega Millions ticket Thursday, along with a slew of other Mega Millions tickets, for $76. Her family and friends all pitched in for a group buy, aspiring to split Friday's $1.35 billion jackpot, the second-largest prize in Mega Millions' history.

The winner doesn't actually walk away with that amount though — the jackpot is based on 30 annual payments and would also be taxed. A winner who elected to take the lump sum instead would get about $700 million and, according to a jackpot analysis by usamega.com, would wind up with just over $400 million after paying federal and New Mexico taxes.

If she wins, Veronica Trujillo said, she will "help everyone" and go on a vacation for a whole year.

"For a lifetime," Peter Trujillo chimed in.

The Trujillos and their group also tried their luck at the Mega Millions before Tuesday's drawing, buying about $100 worth of tickets. As Veronica bought more tickets, she cashed out those whose luster had already vanished. The group reaped $4 for one ticket, $12 for another.

Peter Trujillo, 28, said if they are lucky on Friday he would leave Chimayó and buy a multimillion-dollar ranch "somewhere where there's a lot of acres." He added he would raise cows and crops during the day and enjoy watching the sun set over his property.

"Home is always home, but I'd move out of here to somewhere else," Peter Trujillo said. "To hit in a small town, I mean, it'd be different than hitting it in a city because you don't know nobody. Hitting it in a small town, you know the whole town."

The promise of winning it big drew in hopeful New Mexicans who rarely, if ever, play the lottery. Lara Wengert, 50, said her husband, Marino Gonzales, encouraged her to buy a Mega Millions ticket because of the $1.35 billion pot.

"My husband was like, 'You need to go pick up lottery tickets,' and I'm like, 'I don't even know how to ask for one,' " Wengert said.

She said she would stop working if she won and would enjoy hobbies like skiing and swimming. Wengert would also travel to Australia or New Zealand and pay for her daughters' college tuitions.

Carmelda Labaze, 35, who walked into the same convenience store Thursday to try her luck at the Mega Millions, said she said she doesn't watch a lot of TV but enjoys the HGTV show My Lottery Dream House.

"A lot of them say 'Oh, I don't usually play; I just got it one day because I felt like it,' and you never know," Labaze said. "I don't play regularly, but $1.35 billion is attractive, so why not?"

Labaze said she wouldn't quit her job as a physician at Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque if she hit the Mega Millions jackpot. However, she would pay off her and her family's debts, invest and save some of the funds, and donate to organizations helping to curb the crisis in Haiti.

Speedway assistant managers Jericha Montoya and Leo Garcia spent their morning ringing out customers and dispensing lottery tickets for those eager to play the Mega Millions. Montoya said about every second customer has been buying a ticket recently. However, neither of the two assistant managers have.

"I mean, one in how many million are going to actually get it?" Garcia said.

He added he might be enticed to buy one, given how high the jackpot has risen. If he struck gold, Garcia said he would buy a little house and save the rest for when he retires. He would also store some of the funds to make sure his nieces and nephews are taken care of when they get older.

"People have, like, these big ol' ideas, and they don't really think in real life. It's going to be gone quicker than they realize," Garcia said. "I'd rather be one of the smart ones and have it for a while."