The one and only $151.9 million winning PowerBall® ticket for last night’s drawing was sold in Rhode Island. The ticket was purchased from the Warren Mart at 428 Child St., Warren. There has been no communication with the ticket holder at this time. The Rhode Island Lottery strongly recommends that this player immediately sign the back of his or her ticket, keep it in a safe place and seek sound financial and legal advice.
The winning ticket holder has 60 days from the date of validation to choose between the annuity and cash payment options. The annuity would be the full $151.9 million in 30 installments over 29 years. Each annual payment would total $5,063,333.33 before taxes. After 25% in Federal Taxes and 7% State Taxes are withheld, the annual payments would equal $3,443,066.67.
If the player chooses the cash option he or she would receive a lump sum payment of $75,231,092.06 before taxes and $51,157,142.61 after both Federal and Sate Taxes have been withheld.
No matter what payment option is selected, the state of Rhode Island will benefit greatly from this big win. If the player chooses annuity, Rhode Island would receive 30 installments over 29 years of $354,433.33 in taxes. If the player chooses the cash option, the state would receive a lump sum tax payment of $5,266,176.44.
Not only is this PowerBall® Jackpot the first in over six years for Rhode Island, but it is also the largest prize in Rhode Island Lottery history. Five Rhode Island players have won PowerBall® jackpots over the years. The largest and most recent was a $93.5 million PowerBall® prize won by Michael Goulden, of Pawtucket, RI. He had bought his ticket from the Li’l General Store at 556 Central Ave., Pawtucket for the drawing held on February 21, 2001.
In addition to last night’s jackpot winner, Rhode Island Lottery Retailers also sold a $200,000 and two $10,000 winning PowerBall® tickets. The $200,000 ticket matched the first five numbers, but not the PowerBall number. Both $10,000 tickets matched four numbers and the PowerBall number.
Saturday’s estimated PowerBall® jackpot is $15 million.
