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Two times lucky
Fort Smith woman holds $7.6-million lottery ticket

Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, March 2, 2011

THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - Defying astronomical odds, a Fort Smith woman is celebrating a multimillion-dollar Lotto 6/49 jackpot, just a few years after her husband won an even larger jackpot.

NNSL photo/graphic

Ann Lepine has the jackpot-winning ticket in the Lotto 6/49 draw of Feb. 26. - NNSL file photo

Ann Lepine won $7,662,940.80 in the Lotto 6/49 draw on Feb. 26.

"I was shocked," she said of the moment she realized she had won. "All I could say was, 'Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.' I was in shock. It's still hard to believe now even though I look at the ticket."

Lepine plans to present the ticket to the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) in St. Albert, Alta., on Friday.

In 2007, her husband, Barkley Heron, won a Lotto 6/49 jackpot of $11.3 million, which still ranks as the largest lottery prize ever won in the NWT.

"I can't explain why I'm so lucky," Lepine said of her latest win, noting she also won $25,000 in December playing slots in Las Vegas and just missed winning Lotto 6/49 by getting five of six numbers on a ticket in 2008.

She also buys a lot of lottery tickets, usually about $300 a week.

"Actually, I thought I would win, because I play the lottery enough," she said. "I'm not surprised. I'm shocked it came this soon, but I'm not really."

Lepine, 47, has no immediate plans for her latest windfall.

"It's going into a bank account," she said.

The ticket was bought at The Rapid Corner Store, a business owned by Barkley Heron. It is the same place he bought his jackpot-winning ticket.

Back in 2007, when her husband won the jackpot, Lepine was known as Ann Heron. However, she and her husband have since separated.

Lepine did not wish to discuss her personal matters, including any ownership interest she may or may not have in The Rapid Corner Store.

She said some people in Fort Smith are asking questions about her win.

"I've heard that already around town," she said.

However, she said she couldn’t have manipulated the system. "There's no way it could be."

Lepine said the win was not some kind of inside job.

In fact, she said she stopped into the store to buy a ticket while on the way to supper.

"I'm just as shocked as everyone else is, but it happened," she said. "I paid for the ticket. I bought a quick pick, and it just so happened my numbers came up on Saturday night."

Lepine bought the winning ticket at 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 26, just before the 6:49 p.m. deadline for ticket sales to end.

Kevin van Egdom, the communications manager with WCLC, would only say the lottery prize was won in the NWT, outside of Yellowknife.

"Until the ticket has been claimed, that's about as specific as we can get," he said.

Every winning ticket goes through a verification and security process.

"We've got a pretty thorough process that applies to anybody that presents a ticket to us that is a winning ticket," van Egdom said.

The WCLC spokesperson said some people have won the lottery jackpot twice in Alberta and other parts of Canada.

"It's certainly unusual," he said, although he said sheer randomness gives everyone with a ticket a chance to win.

Lepine's winning numbers – 3, 16, 17, 31, 33 and 46 – were part of a quick-pick nine-number combo pack she bought for $169.

On Feb. 28, just two days after the lottery draw, she ended a one-year term working with the Department of Human Resources as a replacement for someone on maternity leave.

Lepine said she has a job offer for a year with the department beginning in January of 2012, but she is not sure if she'll take it.

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