A Statesboro maintenance worker stopped at a Clyo convenience store recently and left with a winning lottery ticket worth $300,000.

According to Nia Roberts, communications specialist with the Georgia Lottery Corporation,

Earl Lee Jr., 60, won the money after playing a "Fa$t Money" scratch-off ticket.

Lee, who was not
immediately able for comment Friday, told lottery officials that he was traveling through the area when he stopped and purchased the ticket at Clyo Trading Post, on Highway 199 North in Clyo.

"I just bought the ticket," he said. "I wasn't really expecting much."

He told lottery officials he was "in shock" when he realized the ticket was worth $300,000.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "I almost fell to the ground."

He said he plans to save his winnings.

"I'm just glad it happened," he said.

Lee claimed his prize at the Georgia Lottery's Savannah District Office, Roberts said.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $18.7 billion to the state of Georgia for education, she said.

"All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program," Roberts said. "More than 1.7 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.4 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program."