Man Almost Wins 2nd Lottery

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Feb 6, 2003
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CHESTER, S.C. (AP) -- Francis Stephenson is a lucky man, almost incredibly lucky.

He has won $1.4 million with two winning Powerball lottery tickets. If he had just a little more luck - and got one more number right each time - he'd be more than $340 million richer.

Stephenson's latest big winner came Saturday when he matched the five white balls, but not the Powerball. He won $400,000, just missing the estimated $141 million jackpot.

The latest windfall came less than two years after Stephenson, 61, became the first person to win $1 million in South Carolina's lottery when he again picked all five white balls but missed the Powerball in an Oct. 8, 2005 drawing, which would have been worth more than $200 million to a single winner.

The odds of picking the five white balls but missing the Powerball in one drawing are more than 1 in 3.5 million, according to the game's Web site.

"I never thought I would win big again," Stephenson said. "When you buy a ticket, (there's) that possibility you might win."

Stephenson said after taxes he got about $750,000 after the first win. He bought himself a pickup truck. This time, Stephenson said he might buy a lawnmower, since his broke Saturday, although he said he might just repair it himself.

Stephenson retired from Superior Essex, a telephone cable manufacturing company, in July after 35 years.