A trio of friend wins a big jackpot recently in scratch off lottery game

Three friends who make it a habit of playing the lottery together won the $3 million top prize in the Virginia Lottery’s 50X the Money game.

The Lucky Three, as the friends are called, bought a ticket while getting groceries at a Giant Foods in Sterling.

“We always stop and play,” Walter Mendez said. As he scratched the ticket, he said to Delores Vigil and Juan Carlos Fuentes, “I think we’ve got something!”

The friends chose to take the cash option of $1,875,000 before taxes, split three ways. Each friend took home $625,000 before taxes.

According to the Virginia Lottery, this is the second top prize claimed which means two more remain unclaimed.

The winner has to reach the nearest lottery headquarters for further documentation formalities and for claiming their winning prize money, lottery officials said.