Couple clean out car, find $2M Powerball ticket

Tim Forsberg
Posted 12/4/14

To the chagrin of many who hoped to win, and to the delight of state and federal coffers, an anonymous Warwick couple came forward Monday evening to claim their $2 million Powerball prize.

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Couple clean out car, find $2M Powerball ticket

Posted

To the chagrin of many who hoped to win, and to the delight of state and federal coffers, an anonymous Warwick couple came forward Monday evening to claim their $2 million Powerball prize.

The ticket was purchased at I.M. Gan Discount Liquor for last Saturday night's estimated $90 million prize, which was won by a player in Washington state. According to a press release from the Rhode Island Lottery, the wife of the unknown duo said she closed her eyes and played whatever numbers came strongest to her.

“They understood that the win was a matter of public information in Rhode Island,” said R.I. Lottery spokeswoman Melissa Juhnowski by phone. “However, they prefer to remain anonymous.”

The couple matched five numbers but not the PowerBall number, for the standard prize payout of $1 million. However, the pair also purchased a Power Play feature for an additional dollar, which increased the prize to $2 million.

The couple said they were on their way to dinner when they decided to clean out their car, which included checking lottery tickets before throwing them away. They didn't realize they were multi-millionaires until they claimed their prize at Lottery Headquarters.

Funds were awarded in one lump sum, minus taxes. Unfortunately for retailer I.M. Gan, the store will not share in the winnings. However, the establishment has noticed a significant increase in lottery sales since the announcement.

“There’s 25 percent taken for federal taxes, and 5.99 percent for state,” said Juhnowski. “In Rhode Island, we pay one of the highest sales commissions to our retailers, so there aren’t any bonus commissions for selling a winning ticket.”

“Everyone seems to be talking about the win,” said John Hogan, owner of I.M. Gan. “We were recently at a funeral and someone brought up the winning ticket there. We’ve noticed a lot more people are coming in to buy tickets. Hopefully, lightning strikes twice.”

According to the R.I. Lottery’s website, revenues from lottery games are divided amongst the state’s General Fund, commissions, lottery operations and other costs. The money placed into the state’s General Fund is distributed among the state’s 39 communities for programs in Human Services, Education, General Government and others.

“We still don’t have any idea who the winner is,” said Augie Zabbo, store manager, who sold the winning ticket. “I would probably want to remain anonymous, too. They say wins come in three, so hopefully I’ll have a better chance next time.”

At Lottery Headquarters, the unknown couple shared that they’ll use the money to take care of finances, pay off their mortgage and veterinarian bills they recently incurred for their dog. After that, they said they'd talk about having some fun.

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