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Shortly after Moses Bittok took the oath of citizenship last week, he discovered he won $1.89 million in the Iowa Lottery's Hot Lotto game.
"It's almost like you adopted a country and then they netted you $1.8 million," Bittok said 26 Sept. as he cashed in his ticket. "It doesn't happen anywhere - I guess only in America."
Bittok said he took the citizenship oath at the federal building in Des Moines on 23 Sept., then went shopping with his family. They stopped at a gas station to check his lottery ticket from the Sept. 21 drawing.
"For some reason, I'm calm," he said. His wife, Leonida, screamed.
Bittok, 40, an officer at the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women in Mitchellville, said he doesn't know exactly what he will do with his winnings, but a college fund for the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Mindy, is top priority
