LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Persistence paid off for a group of 15
employees at Louisville's Sysco plant. For 12 years, the workers pooled their
money to buy Powerball tickets, and on March 13, they won $1 million.
The excitement began Thursday morning when pool member James
Dowell of Radcliff began check the group's tickets. "On one set of numbers I
started circling the numbers we'd matched," Dowell said. "Before I knew it,
we'd matched all first five numbers."
Dowell called Brent Biddle of Lexington, another member of the
group, to help figure out how much they'd won. Biddle initially thought they'd
won $200,000, but they soon discovered the real total was $1 million. If the
workers had matched the sixth number in the March 13 drawing, they would have
won $216 million.
Word trickled down to the rest of the group, but since Dowell
works 3rd shift, some of the members didn't find out until Friday.
After calling the Kentucky Lottery office five times to verify
the winning numbers, Dowell went to the West Point BP where he'd bought the
ticket to have it checked. Dowell said he noticed a sign on the door that read,
We sold a $1 million Powerball ticket. "As I walked up to the clerk, she told
me that the winning ticket hadn't been claimed," Dowell said. He replied to the
clerk, "It has now."
Several of the winners said they will pay off bills with their
winnings. Dowell said he plans to remodel his house. Bobby Carter of Louisville
said he would put his away for retirement.
After taxes, the winners will receive about $46,000 each. West
Point BP on South 4th Street in West Point will receive a $10,000
bonus for selling the winning ticket.
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Fifteen employees from the Louisville Sysco plant won $1 million in the March 13 Powerball drawing.
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