When 32-year-old Beth Dudley, a mom of two, walked into a convenience store in Salem Township, Westmoreland County, last month, she was stressed out about her flat tire. 

Now, after winning $1 million from a scratch-off ticket, not only is Dudley getting a new tire, but she’s thinking about getting an entirely new car. 

The Pennsylvania Lottery celebrated Dudley on Friday ahead of Mother’s Day, presenting her with a commemorative $1 million check. 

Luck didn’t seem to be on Dudley’s side when she visited the Crabtree Gas and Go on Roosevelt Way in April. But she said she decided to treat herself to a lottery ticket anyway. 

“I thought, ‘What’s it going to hurt?’” Dudley said. “I play occasionally. Before I won, my brother said, ‘You’re going to get the tire changed and your whole world will turn around.’”  

And turn around it did. Dudley scratched the ticket and learned that she had won $1 million.

“I thought, ‘Am I seeing this right?’ Then I just started to cry,” said Dudley.

She said she was crying so much that when she called her mom, her mom thought something was wrong. She called her husband next, and she said he didn’t quite believe her at first. 

Now she plans on buying a new car and investing the rest of her winnings. One thing’s for sure: she’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day this year with a little more money in the bank. 

“It’s great to see a hardworking mom who juggles so much have some luck come her way,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne said. 

Former Somerset County 911 director Bradley Lavan has been sentenced to as long as 120 years behind bars for sex crimes he committed against five children. 

Late last year, Bradley Lavan pleaded guilty late last year to dozens of charges stemming from a 2023 arrest where police alleged he sexually abused five young children.

Lavan was ordered Thursday to serve 60 to 120 years in state prison, a sentence that Somerset County District Attorney Tom Leiden called “appropriate,” citing the seriousness of the crimes he committed.

“Today, justice was served,” Leiden said, adding that “the sentence should assure that Mr. Lavan is never able to prey on innocent children again.”

At the time of his arrest, then District Attorney Molly Metzgar said that it was alleged that Lavan groomed children in ages from 3 to 6 years old and forced them into performing various sex acts on him while they were in his home. 

Police at the time said that Lavan’s time as the 911 director in Somerset County ended before he was arrested and the charges and his work with the county weren’t connected.

“This successful prosecution and sentence are the result of the District Attorney’s Office’s commitment to seeking justice for victims and for protecting the children of Somerset County,” Leiden said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to make Somerset County a safe place to live, work, and raise a family.”