West Virginia Couple Claims $136 Million Powerball Jackpot

Winners Remaining Anonymous

The winners have decided to remain anonymous, rather than go public with the win, but it was confirmed that the winning ticket belonged to a married couple and that they decided to take the cash payout of around $108 million.

West Virginia State Lottery Director John Myers announced the news about the claim to Lottery Commission members on Wednesday June 24. He said: “The gentleman and his wife have come forward. They’ve been here to the building and they’ve asked to remain anonymous so we won’t be having a press conference or anything on that.”

Myers also confirmed that the state will also receive around $7 million in taxes from the win. West Virginia levies a state tax of 6.5% on all lottery wins of $5,000 or more.

It is the ninth Powerball jackpot to be won in West Virginia and the first since legislation was introduced in the state last year allowing lottery winners of more than $1 million to remain anonymous.

The big win ended a decade-long run without a jackpot winner in West Virginia. The previous winner in the state was Randy Smith, a former sheriff and magistrate who won a $77 million jackpot in August 2010. He opted to take the cash payout of $44 million. 

Winning Ticket Sold At Hinton GoMart

These latest jackpot winners may have decided to remain anonymous but the store that sold the winning ticket was celebrating before the jackpot was even claimed.

The news about the jackpot was broken to the staff of the GoMart #93 in Hinton, Summers County, on June 4, the morning after the big draw. A representative of the state lottery spoke to GoMart Assistant General Manager Terry Smith.

“She informed us we had a winner at our Hinton store for the Powerball jackpot,” Smith said. “It’s huge. A hundred and thirty-some million dollars, that’s huge!” Although tickets worth $1 million and $2 million had previously been sold in GoMart stores, Smith believed that this is the first jackpot-winning ticket to be sold in one. The store is set to receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the lucky ticket.

The Powerball jackpot has rolled over four times since the latest win at the beginning of the month and is already back up to an estimated $42 million for the next draw on Saturday June 27.