Lotto Winner an Unemployed Millionaire

Carlos Olvera said Friday he quickly took the advice of friends at work who told him, “Millionaires shouldn’t have to work.”

So the 40-year-old immigrant from Mexico left his factory job in Gardena after learning Thursday that he had won the largest individual payoff in California Lottery history--$25,140,000.

Besides, he admitted, “I couldn’t concentrate at work” after hearing the news.

Grappling With Good Life

Olvera, his wife, Sofia, and their three children began grappling with the good life Friday when they faced a crowd of reporters at a news conference at the Biltmore in Los Angeles to talk about their good fortune.

A private man, Olvera, who speaks little English, rolled his eyes and occasionally shrugged his shoulders as he was peppered with questions.

He said he decided Friday morning to quit his job at Industrial Polychemical Co. after considering his situation. “It’s better this way,” he said in Spanish.

His wife, a native of El Salvador, said she will also quit her job of selling Jaffa cosmetics. “But after I fill the current orders,” she said.

Olvera said he has three favorite numbers--13, 7 and 3--but he did not play them on the lucky “quick pick” ticket. The winning numbers, 25, 15, 24, 16, 48 and 31, were selected at random by a Lotto 6/49 machine at a Gardena liquor store near the plant where he worked.

He said he had been spending as much as $20 a week for the last six months on tickets until he finally hit the jackpot.

Olvera, who comes from a small town in the Mexican state of Michoacan, said he did not buy tickets in the national lottery there.

“There, I didn’t have any money. Here, I do,” he explained.

Lottery officials hope to present Olvera with the first of 20 annual checks of $1,005,600 on Christmas Eve.

Olvera said he had made no long-range plans for his millions but had a few ideas. “First,” he said, “I’ll buy a house for my wife in San Juan Capistrano. We like it down there.” The family lives in Compton.

He also said he would buy a new home for his mother in Michoacan.

Then, there is a new car--”maybe a Mercedes,” he said--to go along with the Chevy van he drives.

The couple’s 12-year-old son, Carlos Jr., who became a family spokesman of sorts because of his fluency in English, told reporters before the news conference that he wanted a computer for Christmas.

Later, his father was asked if he would get his wish. “I’m done with my Christmas shopping, but he’ll probably get it,” Olvera said.

Intends to Stay in U.S.

Olvera, who was born in Mexico City, said he came to the United States in 1968 and became a legal U.S. resident in 1980. Unlike another immigrant, who won $2 million in the lottery’s “Big Spin” in 1985 and returned to Mexico, Olvera said he will remain in this country.

“My dream came true here,” he said.

The millions aside, Friday’s big prize may have been snared by Carlos Jr., who struck up a conversation with sportscaster Jaime Jarrin, who came to the news conference for Spanish-language TV station KVEA.

After exchanging pleasantries, Jarrin, who gained attention among English speakers as Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela’s interpreter, handed the youngster his business card.

“Hey, maybe I can meet Fernando . . . another millionaire,” the boy said.