Marquis Mitchell - Retired Atlanta Fire Department Chief Wins Lottery

Marquis Mitchell worked for the Atlanta Fire Department for more than thirty years. He served as the Atlanta Fire Department Chief from 1994 to 1998, when he retired. That means that for more than 30 years, he adhered to the fire department's mission statement - To prevent or mitigate harm to life, property and the environment. He helped the community for a long time and now it was time for the community to give back to him. And, they did - Marquis won the lottery!

Marquis Mitchell won $231,812 playing Georgia Lottery's Fantasy 5 game in April of 2010. To play Fantasy 5, you need to choose 5 numbers out of a possible 39. To win the jackpot, you must match all 5 numbers. The odds of doing so are 1-in-575,757. Marquis beat the odds to win the jackpot!

Marquis Mitchell found out that he won when he called Georgia Lottery's hotline to check his numbers. They all matched and he could not believe it. So he double-checked them online. Sure enough, he was a big winner. That's when he woke up his sleeping wife to tell her the good news: "I was so happy, I woke my wife up. She jumped out of bed and started running around. I had to calm her down!"

At the time of his win, Marquis was 59-year-old and living in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Ida. The couple have three adult children and six grandchildren. Marquis said that he planned to use the money to pay off some bills and to buy a new fishing boat.

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