$40 million lottery winner thought it was an April Fools’ joke — and so did his friends

When a retiree from Iowa won a massive $40 million lottery prize, his first reaction was to simply laugh.

Earl Lape’s reaction could have been shared by many others, as he thought the Lotto America jackpot win was an April Fools’ Day Joke. After all, he did purchase the ticket on April 1, according to Iowa Lottery officials.

He took his ticket to a local store, where he found out he was the winner of the $40.03 million prize.

“I had already signed it, so I handed it to her,” Lape told lottery officials. “She scanned it and then smiled and said, ‘You are the winner!’”

Lape, from Dubuque, matched all six numbers of the April 1 drawing, which were 2-38-43-46-51 and the Star Ball number 7.

He wasn’t the only who who didn’t believe the life-changing lottery win.

“I just didn’t believe him at first. I didn’t believe him that Sunday night until the next morning,” Lape’s best friend, Randy Davis, told lottery officials. “And I started to believe him when I started seeing some things online. And he stuck to the story, so I thought, ‘Well, it might be true!’”

Instead of the $40.03 million annuity prize, Lape accepted the $21.28 million cash option when he claimed his prize at the Iowa Lottery headquarters Monday, April 10.

With his winnings, he said he will buy the former home of his longtime girlfriend, who died last year.

He also plans to invest “so the money could help his family for generations to come” and donate to organizations helping children with medical issues.

“If it weren’t for our parents to show us the way, where would we be? That’s why I want to help kids,” Lape said. “A lot of parents don’t have money and a lot of insurance companies don’t cover it, but the kids still need treatment.”

The odds of winning the Lotto America jackpot are about 1 in 26 million. The $40.03 jackpot was the most ever offered by the Lotto America game.

Dubuque is about 75 miles northeast of Cedar Rapids.

This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 9:37 AM with the headline "$40 million lottery winner thought it was an April Fools’ joke — and so did his friends."