Out of Jail, Winner of $50,000 Plans New Life

Salvador Valencia Rodriguez wasn’t one of the grand finalists who won the most money in the California Lottery Monday night--three others won $2 million apiece--but he was one of the happiest.

Although he won only $50,000, it was enough, Rodriguez said, “to change my life . . . to change it drastically.”

Rodriguez, 20, who was incarcerated in the Orange County Jail on a variety of charges two weeks ago when he heard that he had been selected as a finalist, told reporters after his turn at the lottery wheel Monday that “from now on, I’m going to stay out of trouble. . . . I’m going to go towards God. I’m going to start a business, maybe a restaurant. . . . My girlfriend, Loretta, and I, we’re going to get married soon.”

Rodriguez isn’t out of the woods, yet.

He still has a date in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach this morning, where he faces charges of possession of marijuana and possession of stolen property. Those charges, along with other counts, were filed after he was stopped in Irvine for a traffic violation on Oct. 31.

Court records reportedly indicate that Rodriguez’s brushes with the law in Orange County this year date back to April, when he was arrested by Santa Ana police on suspicion of possession of PCP. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years’ probation.

Released From Custody

Last August, he was arrested by Irvine police on suspicion of burglary. Again pleading guilty, he was sentenced to another 150 days in jail and additional probation.

Then came the Halloween arrest, and in addition to the marijuana and stolen property charges, Orange County officials said they noted that he had failed to surrender to serve all his jail time on the earlier guilty pleas.

In a report dated Nov. 5, probation officials are quoted as saying that Rodriguez “continues to act irresponsibly and does not appear willing to cooperate with the Probation Department and the courts.”

Nonetheless, on Nov. 19, seven days after his name was picked as a lottery grand finalist, Rodriguez was released on his own recognizance. That meant that instead of having to name someone to take his place, Rodriguez got to spin the wheel himself Monday night.

“I was released so I would have some time to prepare my case,” he said. “The judge didn’t know anything about the lottery.”

Rodriguez was optimistic about this morning’s court appearance. He said he only has about 10 days’ jail time that he failed to serve. As for the marijuana and stolen property counts, he said: “I don’t think they have a case against me.”

Anyway, he did not have to deal with that until today, and in the meantime, Rodriguez had a whole night ahead of him.

“I’m going to rent a limousine,” he said. “Take a ride. Have a real good time with my family. . . . I’m very happy.”

Perhaps the most jubilant of Monday’s $2-million winners was John Revie, 48, a security guard from California City, who said his “very first priority” is to purchase a van with an electric lift to transport his 20-year-old son, John Jr., who is confined to a wheelchair with muscular dystrophy.

Marilyn Salomon, a native of Hawaii who currently works as a bank secretary in Los Angeles, said she and her husband, Frank, haven’t decided yet what to do with her $2 million.

Cut Up Credit Cards

“But I’ll pay all the bills,” she said. “And maybe I’ll just cut up all my credit cards.”

Howard Whittle, 56, a welder from Long Beach, did not say much when he won his $2 million, other than to comment, rather quietly, that he was “shocked.”

He said later that he might go to Las Vegas for a vacation.

“But not to gamble,” Whittle said. “I’ve got a brother up there, and I think we’ll go fishing.”