Man wins $30,000 lottery prize from Christmas stocking stuffer gift

By Yi-Jin Yu

Santa had a very nice present for a Maryland man this past Christmas.

Grant Johnson of Thurmont, Maryland, won $30,000 from a $3 Peppermint Payout Multiplier scratch-off ticket he received as a stocking stuffer from his longtime friend Andrea Cahill.

Johnson and Cahill, who also happen to be roommates, have a tradition of exchanging lottery tickets as stocking stuffers but little did they know, one of Johnson’s tickets this time would turn out to be a lucky one.

Courtesy of Grant Johnson

Grant Johnson won $30,000 from a lottery ticket he received from his friend Andrea Cahill as a Christmas stocking stuffer.

“I bought him the $3 ticket as a joke because he likes the $30 ones and the $20s and the $10s and occasionally a $5. I like the $2 and $3 ones,” Cahill told “Good Morning America.” “So I picked his tickets first and then he picked mine and when I picked his tickets, I was like, ‘You know what, you're always picking on me about the $3 tickets,’ so I bought him two.”

“He's never going to pick on me about it again,” Cahill continued.

Courtesy of Grant Johnson

Grant Johnson’s winning lottery ticket was a Peppermint Payout Multiplier scratch-off ticket with a top prize of $30,000.

This time, Johnson also said they even started a superstitious practice he plans on doing again.

“When we bought tickets, I was being funny about it,” Johnson recalled to “GMA.” “Before we purchased the tickets for each other at the machine, I had her and myself exchange our money. So we would spend each other's money on each other's tickets. I was kind of being silly about it. But I think that's something that's gonna stick now.”

When the two friends found out that Johnson had a winning ticket, they said they were so excited they ended up staying up all night.

“We were both really, really shocked. He checked the ticket three or four times and he's like, ‘Can you check this for me?’ And I checked it three or four times,” Cahill recalled. “I got on the Maryland Lottery app and I scanned the ticket and it came up, ‘Congratulations. You're a $30,000 winner.’”

“I'm a pretty calm person. But it was a nice relief, a nice Christmas gift,” Johnson added.

Johnson said he plans on using some of the $30,000, the most he has ever won from a scratch-off, on necessities like paying off a car he and Cahill share and some bills but also saving some for leisure, too.

“The rest of the money, [I’ll] break it up and put it away for whatever else we may need it for. Andrea’s my roommate so we help each other out a lot,” the 36-year-old said.

“[I also will] put some of the money away for travel. I’d like to go to Scotland and Ireland,” he added.