Media

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016

CONTACT: FLORIDA LOTTERY COMMUNICATIONS
(850) 487-7727

FLORIDA POWERBALL® WINNER COMES FORWARD TO CLAIM SHARE OF WORLD-RECORD BILLION-DOLLAR JACKPOT
~ Historic jackpot set new record for most money generated for education in Florida history ~

TALLAHASSEE - At a press conference today, the Florida Lottery announced that the Florida winner from the $1.5 billion POWERBALL® jackpot drawing held on January 13, claimed one-third share of the jackpot at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. The $528.7 million prize was claimed by The Nickel 95 Trust. The trustee is Maureen Smith, 70, of Melbourne Beach. The Trust chose to receive the winnings in a one-time, lump-sum payment in the amount of $327,835,077.79.

"The Florida Lottery is all about creating winning moments and giving people the chance to fulfill their dreams," said Florida Lottery Secretary Tom Delacenserie. "We congratulate Florida's newest jackpot winner, and recognize how this POWERBALL jackpot will not only change their life but allowed the Lottery to generate more money for education from a single jackpot than ever before, with more than $114 million raised for Florida students and schools."

The winner stated she had been playing the same Lottery numbers for years and though she did not watch the drawing live, she realized the next morning that her ticket had the winning numbers. She frequently shops at the Publix, located at 3830 Highway A1A in Melbourne Beach, where her winning ticket was purchased. She also expressed how difficult it was to keep such a big secret for over a month.

To view the press conference on the Lottery's YouTube channel, click here.

The winning numbers from the January 13 drawing were 4-8-19-27-34 and the Powerball was 10. The jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at Publix, located at 3830 Highway A1A in Melbourne Beach. The retailer received $100,000 for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.

This POWERBALL jackpot roll series, which began on November 7, 2015, resulted in more than 5.3 million winning tickets in Florida, totaling more than $558.8 million in prizes. This includes creating 18 new Florida POWERBALL millionaires. Additionally, Florida Lottery retailer earned more than $14 million in commissions and bonuses during this jackpot series.

Media who have inquiries or requests may contact the Trust's representative at the law firm of Kurt D. Panouses P.A. of Indialantic, Florida.

Florida is a great place to play POWERBALL, as it is among the top-selling POWERBALL states in the country, exceeding more than $3.4 billion in sales, yielding $1.4 billion in education funding to date. Florida has the most jackpot winners of any other state since joining the game in 2009, 11 so far. In total, more than 63.5 million prizes have been won by Florida players, totaling $1.9 billion in prizes.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA LOTTERY

The Florida Lottery is responsible for contributing more than $29 billion to education and sending more than 725,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The Florida Lottery reinvests 97 percent of its revenue back into Florida's economy through prize payouts, commissions to more than 13,000 Florida retailers and transfers to education. Since 1988, Florida Lottery games have paid more than $48.5 billion in prizes and made more than 1,800 people millionaires. For more information, please visit www.flalottery.com.

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