B. Raymond Buxton holds his enormous faux check after winning a $425 million Powerball jackbot with a ticket he purchased at a Milpitas gas station. He showed up at the California Lottery office on April 1 wearing a T-shirt with Yoda on it that read "Luck of the Jedi I have." (Courtesy California Lottery) 
 
 MILPITAS -- Silicon Valley's latest who-won-it mystery came to a close on April Fool's Day, when a man strolled into the Sacramento lottery headquarters bearing the winning Powerball ticket and wearing a T-shirt featuring Yoda from "Star Wars" with the words: "Luck of the Jedi I have." 
 
 Lottery officials were quick to say that nearly six weeks after the Feb. 19 drawing, this was no joke: B. Raymond Buxton is the sole winner of the $425.3 million jackpot. Despite his levity in picking a day and T-shirt for emergence, he hunkered down after learning of the win, recruiting an attorney and a public relations powerhouse to help him navigate the world of a newly minted millionaire. 
 
 "Once the initial shock passed I couldn't sleep for days," Buxton said in a statement from Singer Associates, a Bay Area public relations firm that has represented clients such as Gavin Newsom and Children's Hospital Oakland. 
 
 While his name is out there, Buxton declined media interviews and cleverly covered his face with an enormous novelty check for the lottery photo. A San Francisco law firm is helping him handle bank accounts and taxes and establish a charity. 
 
 "It couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Sam Singer said. "He wants to be a winner who affects lives in a positive way." 
 
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 The ticket was sold at a Chevron station off Dixon Landing Road in Milpitas. Buxton, a self-described lottery regular, was at the Subway sandwich counter inside the station, already with a ticket in hand, when he decided that the payoff potential was so huge that this time he'd buy a second ticket. That's the one that won -- a $2 ticket that will net a lump sum payoff of $242.2 million before federal taxes. It's the largest jackpot ever won in California, said lottery officials. 
 
 "It was a fail-safe," Singer said. "And he became the luckiest guy in the world." 
 
 Singer said Buxton is a retired "well-educated professional" in his late 50s, with Bay Area ties and that the gas station is within the footprint of his daily travels. Records show that he's lived in East Contra Costa County. 
 
 Buxton plans to do some traveling but also wants to give back to the community through a charity focused on pediatric health, child hunger and education. 
 
 It was the Bay Area's second big lottery win in as many months: A delivery driver named Steve Tran bought a winning Mega Millions ticket from an East San Jose gift shop sometime before a Dec. 17 drawing. He did not come forward until a few days after New Year's, when he found the winning ticket while looking through a drawer. 
 
 Tran gave a brief statement to lottery officials, saying he had immediately called his boss to let him know he wasn't coming in anymore, then dropped off the map. He took a $173.8 million pretax cash payout out of the maximum $324 million prize. 
 
 Immediately after realizing he won, Buxton -- who Singer said comes from a large family -- kept it to himself, and turned to the California Lottery's Web page advising winners to line up legal and financial representation. 
 
 "Sitting on a ticket of this value was very scary. It's amazing how a little slip of paper can change your life. I'm going to enjoy my new job setting up a charitable foundation focused on the areas of pediatric health, child hunger and education," he said. 
 
 He added that he plans to "spend time with my family and friends, start a charity and consult with professionals on how to pragmatically utilize this windfall," with a perhaps more ambitious plan of "trying to find a way to live a normal and discreet life." 
 
 "You get a check for $200 million-plus, that's automatically going to be a life-changer," said California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso. "It's great in theory and we love that the guy took time to investigate options and think it's great he's going to give money back." 
 
 Traverso added, however that keeping a low profile might prove to be an admirable but difficult goal. 
 
 "We wish him all the luck in the world," he said. 
 
 One of the $400 million lottery ticket was purchased at Dixon Landing gas station in the Food Mart/ Chevron station in Milpitas, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group) 
 
 Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi. Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga. 

 A Northern California man who won a $425.3-million Powerball jackpot in February has come forward to claim his prize, California Lottery officials said Tuesday. 
 
 B. Raymond Buxton, a retiree, told Sacramento officials he purposely chose April Fool’s Day to turn in his ticket and take the one-time cash option. It will be worth about $242.2 million before taxes. 
 
 He wore a shirt featuring the "Star Wars" character Yoda with the words “Luck of the Jedi I have.” 
 
 Buxton told officials he was getting lunch at a Subway inside the convenience store at Dixon Landing Chevron in Milpitas when he decided to buy a second ticket for the February draw. 
 
 Buxton had already purchased one Powerball ticket but because the jackpot was so large, he decided to buy another, lottery officials said in a statement. 
 
 The Chevron where Buxton bought the ticket received a $1-million bonus for selling it. 
 
 “‘Unbelievable!’ is all I could muster,” Buxton said of the moment he learned he'd hit the jackpot. “I sat in front of the computer for hours in disbelief, frequently checking and rechecking the numbers across multiple sources. Once the initial shock passed, I couldn’t sleep for days.” 
 
 Buxton overcame gargantuan odds to match 17, 49, 54, 35, 1 and the Powerball number 34. Officials said the $425.3-million Powerball sum is the largest jackpot ever won in California and the sixth-largest in the nation. 
 
 At first, Buxton said he did not tell anyone about his good fortune. 
 
 “Sitting on a ticket of this value was very scary,” he said. 
 
 So Buxton studied the lottery's winner’s handbook and spent more than a week setting up legal and financial representation. 
 
 He told officials he will use some of his winnings to travel, but he also plans to set up a charitable foundation “focused on areas of pediatric health, child hunger and education.” 
 
 “It’s amazing,” he said, “how a little slip of paper can change your life.” 
 
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 matt.stevens@latimes.com 
 
 
 
 Twitter: @MattStevensLAT 
 

– The winner of California's biggest-ever lottery jackpot has a sense of humor—he turned up to claim the $425 million Powerball prize on April Fool's Day, wearing a T-shirt featuring Yoda and the words "Luck of the Jedi I have," reports the San Jose Mercury News. B. Raymond Buxton, a 59-year-old who retired after the lottery draw in February, says he "couldn't sleep for days" after learning he had the winning ticket, bought at a San Jose-area gas station. Buxton—who covered his face with the giant check while posing for photos—says that after learning of the win, he hunkered down for weeks and hired legal, financial, and PR representation before coming forward, the LA Times reports. He opted to take the prize in one $242 million lump sum, and says he plans to set up a charity "focused on areas of pediatric health, child hunger, and education," while still trying to "find a way to live a normal and discreet life." The big win "couldn't happen to a nicer guy," a spokesman says. "He wants to be a winner who affects lives in a positive way."