ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – An Air Force master sergeant who decided on a whim to buy a lottery ticket at a supermarket won a $93.4 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials announced Friday.

John San Cartier, assigned to the 58th Training Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base, held the only ticket for the Aug. 10 Powerball drawing that matched all six numbers. The Powerball is played in 27 states – including Rhode Island – and the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.

“If I hadn’t been short of milk, I probably wouldn’t have bought the ticket,” he said.

San Cartier, 33, said that on the morning after the winning numbers were drawn, he heard there was a winner in New Mexico on a morning radio report.

“I thought: Wouldn’t that be amazing?’ ” he said.

That evening, after work, he checked his ticket.

“I looked at my numbers again and again and again,” he said. He verified the winning numbers with the lotto web site and reconfirmed them by requesting a printout of winning numbers at the store. Then, he stored the numbers in a safety deposit box.

San Cartier said he tried to keep his good fortune a secret. But news that he was the winner spread rapidly among friends and even a few strangers who learned his identity.

When he heard news stories speculating about who the winner might be, he fought the temptation to come forward.

“I wanted to run out screaming in the streets, It’s me! Hey everybody, it’s me!’ ” San Cartier told reporters, waving a hand with an imaginary ticket in the air.

Instead, San Cartier said, he tried to stay calm. He was granted a leave from the Air Force, which he has served for 15 years. He spent recent days seeking advice from financial advisers, tax specialists and lawyers. On Friday morning he was ready to claim his prize.

San Cartier chose to take a lump sum of $52.2 million, rather than spread the payments out in annual installments. After taxes, he’ll receive a one-time wire transfer of about $36 million, lottery officials said.

San Cartier, who is married, declined to give any other details about his family, work or personal life. He said he is not in debt, but the money will come in handy.

He said the only luxury he wants is “peace and quiet.” Since winning, he said, it seems that thousands of people have learned of his prize and he’s disconnected his home phone.

The prize is the second largest in New Mexico history, the largest claimed by an individual.

The winning numbers were 13, 31, 36, 38, 49 and a Powerball of 2.

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On the Net:

New Mexico Lottery: www.nmlottery.com

AP-ES-08-19-05 1912EDT