Winning $338M Powerball Ticket Sold at NJ Liquor Store
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ABC News(NEW YORK) — The single winning $338 million Powerball ticket was sold at Eagle Liquor in Passaic, N.J., lottery officials said on Monday, brushing aside reports that a gas station owner in Bordentown, N.J., claimed to have sold the winning ticket.
A giant yellow check made out to “New Jersey Lottery Winner” took center stage at a press conference Monday. The lucky winner of the ticket has not yet come forward to claim the prize, said Carole Hedinger, executive director of the New Jersey Lottery.
“We are waiting for the winner to contact us, or the possible winners,” Hedinger said. “Whoever they are, they should sign the back of that ticket and put it in a safe place.”
She urged whoever has the winning ticket to “take their time” and “seek professional advice” before they come forward to claim the prize. If the jackpot is taken in a lump sum, the amount left after taxes would be a $151,920,000, Hedinger said.
New Jersey does not offer anonymity to lottery winners, Hedinger said, and their names and hometowns are part of the public record.
Eagle Liquor will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, Hedinger said.
More than $41 million worth of tickets were sold for the drawing in New Jersey, which Hedinger said is a boon for the state.
“This is a wonderful thing for the state,” she said. “Powerball generates a lot of revenue for New Jersey.”
The winning numbers were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31.
The manager of Love’s Travel Stops & Country Store in Bordentown, N.J., initially said he might have sold the winning ticket after he said he received a call from a happy truck driver who claimed to have matched all six numbers.
“Upon listening to his voice he did sound happy, kind of like a relief like he wouldn’t have to work as hard and nice to hear that for someone,” store manager Isaiah DeVries told ABC News early Monday morning.
Hedinger said lottery officials had not spoken to anyone at the Bordentown store, but they are sure the ticket was instead sold in Passiac, in the northern part of the state.
“Now somebody may have called the place in Bordentown and talked about claiming a ticket and perhaps somebody jumped to a conclusion,” Hedinger said.
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