Just retired Judge Vigil wins $1 million lottery

Michael Vigil - Photo by Kerry Sherck

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Nico Roesler - Michael Vigil, who retired Friday as a state district judge in Santa Fe, will have some extra money for his retirement. A day after he stepped down from the bench, he bought five Powerball tickets. On Sunday morning, Vigil compared his tickets with winning numbers posted at the lottery’s website and realized he won a $1 million lottery prize. “I couldn’t believe it,” Vigil, 59, said. “I checked it five times.” The win beat odds of 1 in 5.2 million by matching the five white ball numbers in Saturday’s Powerball drawing. A lottery representative said 31 percent of the prize will be withheld for federal and state taxes, which drops the expected payout to $690,000. The last number on his ticket was only one digit above the winning red Powerball number, which would have allowed him to claim the jackpot in the multi-state drawing, which now stands at an estimated $50 million Read more

Just retired Judge Vigil wins $1 million lottery