A hand holds an expired Arizona Powerball lottery ticket with a black background on December 20, 2021 in North Las Vegas, Nevada.Photo:Getty
Getty
“The next day, when he stopped at the same location on his way to work, the store was buzzing with excitement,” the release said. “A ticket bought there had won $1 million in the previous night’s drawing.”
A Washington state Powerball lottery ticket.Getty
“Mr. Gutierrez said he initially selected all six of those numbers but at the last minute changed his Powerball number to 19,” the release said. “Had he stuck with those initial numbers, he would have won the jackpot.”
As a small business owner, Gutierrez said expanding his business is one of the things he might do with some of his winnings, per the release.
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In March, aCalifornia man made another big purchasesince winning the record-breaking$2.04 billion Powerball lottery prize.
After splurging $25.5 million on amansion in the Hollywood Hills, Edwin Castro acquired a second property in Altadena, close to the gas station where he purchased his winning lottery ticket, according toDirt.
Another manfiled a lawsuit claiming to be the rightful winnerof the jackpot instead of Castro a week later.
Jose Rivera said he bought the ticket at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena on Nov. 7 — the day before the winning numbers came out — but claimed someone named “Reggie” stole the tickets, according to the complaint that PEOPLE reviewed at the time.
However, in a statement to PEOPLE, California lottery officialsmaintained that Castro was the correct winner.
“When it comes to the vetting process for big winners,California Lottery has the utmost confidencein its process for doing so,” California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker said. “California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion prize stemming from the Powerball drawing in November of 2022.”
source: people.com
