Lucky Dozen Make Millions Out of $10 : Gambling: VA hospital workers who hit the jackpot will each receive $68,583 a year over 20 years; $49,380 after taxes.

VAN NUYS —  Jazz artist Joe Zawinul was one of the first people to pop into Robin Rich’s mind Thursday after he and 11 colleagues from the Veterans Administration Medical Center won a $16.46-million jackpot in the California Lottery.

To celebrate his $1.37-million share of the winnings, the 40-year-old maintenance supervisor from Van Nuys said his first purchase would be a compact disc featuring Zawinul, whom he saw perform at the Hollywood Bowl last month.

“I know it sounds small, but money’s been tight,” Rich said during a news conference Thursday at lottery headquarters in Van Nuys.

And so it went as Rich and his colleagues from the engineering services department of the West Los Angeles medical center all became millionaires. For their $10 monthly investment in an office pool, the 12 workers each will receive $68,583 a year during the next 20 years, which after taxes amounts to $49,380.

Rich said he planned to share his winnings with his wife, Kathe, 41, an intensive care nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, and daughters Morgan, 8, and Eva, 7.

“It’s not a fortune, but if we spend it carefully it’ll buy a lot of things,” Rich said. “I can live the dream I had.”

That dream, said Rich, includes returning to school to study art and to learn how to design furniture. It may also include leaving Los Angeles and moving to San Luis Obispo, he said.

Rich and most of his colleagues discovered Thursday morning that they held the winning ticket, which one of the members of the 5-year-old pool purchased at Keg Liquors in West Covina.

“We couldn’t quite believe it,” Rich said. “All of us were kind of holding our stomachs and wishing we had more deodorant on.”

Another winner, Stephanie Chiles, 38, of Los Angeles, joined the pool just two months ago. Chiles said her first purchase would be a Chrysler convertible for herself and a truck for her husband, Byron.

“I was the good luck charm,” she quipped.