Husband's lottery ticket gift to wife earns a $50,000 prize

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A Maryland man decided to buy some scratch-off lottery tickets for his wife and the gift ended up earning her a $50,000 prize.

Elio Figueroa, 48, of Prince George's County, told Maryland Lottery officials he went to Sunrise Market & Deli in Beltsville to scan some lottery tickets to see if they were winners.

Figueroa didn't find any big wins, but he decided to buy a few scratch-off tickets to give to his wife, Maria, 41.

Maria took a break from cooking to scratch off her tickets and discovered a $20 $50,000 Cash scratch-off appeared to be a winner, so she called for Elio to double-check.

"She definitely matched the winning number," Elio said. "But as I scratched the prize underneath, there were more and more zeros."

The couple initially thought they had a $5,000 ticket, but soon discovered it was worth $50,000.

"We were all so happy," Maria said. "I can't believe he brought home a $50,000 win!"

The winners said they plan to put their winnings toward a down payment on a new home for their family.