SACRAMENTO - Antonio Velasquez, the $14 million lottery winner from Lake County, said Tuesday he has no plans to rush out and buy something with his newfound wealth.
"I have everything I wanted," Velasquez, a 69-year-old retired postmaster from the Lucerne area said at a media event in Sacramento. "God's been good to me for so long."
Velasquez, who goes by Tony, was all smiles Tuesday, displaying a facsimile check from the California Lottery and answering questions in a room with lottery officials and a few reporters.
The real check will arrive in four to six weeks, and Velasquez, who said he has talked with a financial planner, said he still doesn't know what to do with it.
The cash option for his $14 million SuperLotto Plus jackpot is about $10.3 million, from which the federal government takes 25 percent for taxes.
"They have to get their share," said Velasquez, who retired in 2003 on a pension for 22 years with the Postal Service combined with four years in the Marine Corps.
His ultimate tax obligation for 2012 could be more or less than 25 percent, depending on how Velasquez manages his money.
"Money doesn't buy you health; doesn't buy you (the) love of your family," said Velasquez, a slender man with close-cropped gray hair.
A month ago, he bought a new car, a 2013 Hyundai.
He was accompanied Tuesday by his daughter, Christine Diener of Redding, and son, Tony Velasquez Jr. of Lower Lake, who works for the Lake County Fire Protection District, and four other relatives.
"It was surreal," the younger Velasquez said, describing the scene at his father's house when they learned of the windfall. "It's still surreal."
"I'm very happy for my dad. He's been my hero since I was a kid," Tony Jr. said.
Diener said she had heard on the news that one of two winning tickets in Saturday's lottery drawing had been purchased in Clearlake Oaks.
"Oh, that's exciting," she recalled thinking. "I wonder if I know them. I never dreamed it would be my father."
Velasquez called his wife, who is in Greece, and told her he won the lottery but didn't say how much, according to a California Lottery press release.
Velasquez said he wants to help his four children and eight grandchildren and donate money to a couple of his favorite charities, the release said.
He said Tuesday he was "thinking about" his family, including a sister who is 75 and has been working since she was 15.
Velasquez, who moved to Lake County in 1980, first worked at the Clearlake Park post office, then served as postmaster in Clearlake Oaks and Clearlake.
Lake County's median income last year was $35,991 last year, according to the Census Bureau, equal to about 60 percent of the $61,020 median household income in Sonoma County.
Velasquez is the second Lake County resident to win $1 million or more from the lottery since 1986, according to Press Democrat records. Brian and Terri Brown of Middletown won $50 million, also from SuperLotto Plus, in 2002.
Fourteen Sonoma County residents have won a combined $257 million.
Velasquez said he has played the lottery regularly -- "almost like second nature" -- since it started. The most he'd ever won before Saturday was $94, he said.
He was stunned when he went online to check his number. "I said 'Tony, come in here quick.' I thought I was having a heart attack."
In reality, Velasquez said his health is fine, other than a recent cold.
The SuperLotto Plus jackpot numbers drawn Saturday were: 3, 4, 27, 30, 39 and Mega number 3.
Velasquez said he selected the Mega number 3 for no particular reason, and took a Quick Pick on the other five numbers.
He marveled at the coincidences that led to him purchasing the right ticket at the right time and place.
"So many things had to happen," he said.
Velasquez split a $28 million jackpot with the buyer of a ticket purchased in Milpitas. No one had come forward by Tuesday's press conference to claim the other jackpot.
The other winner has 180 days to claim the prize.
The Oaks Red & White Food Store on Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks will receive $70,000 for selling the winning ticket.
Jodie Nylander, who runs the Red & White Store, said locals were hoping that one of their own was the new millionaire.
She said her father, Gary Nylander, and Velasquez have ridden their motorcycles together.
"We're very appreciative and happy about it," Jodie Nylander said. "Very exciting."
In Sacramento, Tony Velasquez said he is quite well-known now on the shores of Clear Lake.
"They all know me now," he said with a smile.
You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.
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