Immigrant earns citizenship and wins lottery on same day
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, September 27, 2005
DES MOINES, Iowa – A man who emigrated from Kenya to the United States found prosperity beyond his expectations on the day he became a U.S. citizen.
Shortly after Moses Bittok took the oath of citizenship on Friday, he discovered he had a $1.89 million winning ticket from 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 Monday 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 Friday, 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 his top priority.
