American dream for lottery winners
Sunday, February 26, 2006 posted 05:03 AM EST
LINCOLN, Nebraska: Two are immigrants from Vietnam. Another fled the war-torn Republic of the Congo.
All three came to the US in search of a better life.
Yesterday, the trio of immigrants who worked at a Nebraska meatpacking plant stepped forward with five co-workers to claim the biggest lottery jackpot in US history - $US365 million ($496.21 million). "This is a great country!" said Quang Dao, 56, who arrived in the US in 1988.
He still has family in Vietnam and said he planned to help them financially with his winnings.
The seven men and one woman bought the winning Powerball ticket at a convenience store near the ConAgra ham processing plant where they worked.
The previous US jackpot record was $US363 million, won by two ticketholders in Illinois and Michigan in 2000.
The Nebraska workers had the option of taking the money in one lump sum or 30 annual instalments. They chose the lump sum and will get $US15.5 million each after taxes.
Alain Maboussou, 26, said he fled from the Congo in 1999 to escape unrest after the civil war there.
He said he planned to quit work and return to school for a degree in business administration. Three of the group quit their jobs when they landed the jackpot.
"I've been retired for about four days now," said 40-year-old Eric Zornes.
Mike Terpstra, a 47-year-old plant supervisor who is single and has no children, was unsure what to do with the money.
"Everybody has dreams," he said. "Buy an island. Buy an aeroplane. In reality, I'm not a fan of flying and I don't really like water."
The winners said they often pooled their money with other workers when Powerball jackpots exceeded $US40 million.
Dung Tran, 34, has worked at the meatpacking plant for 15 years after leaving Vietnam.
The other winners were: David Gehle, 53; Chasity Rutjens, 29; and Robert Stewart, 30.
The winning numbers were 15, 17, 43, 44 and 48, with a Powerball number of 29. The odds of picking the winning combination of numbers were 1 in 146 million.
| Related Links | |
 |
Latest Results |
|
Search Past Winning Numbers |