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The man who won the $44 million Powerball jackpot in August said he still hasn't received his prize.
The jackpot winner, who identified himself only as Jerry to KABC, said he purchased the ticket at a Ralphs Grocery store in Orange County, California, and selected his lucky number 10 for the red Powerball. The winning numbers for the $44.3 million drawing on August 19 were 1, 2, 15, 23, 28 and the red Powerball 10.
“It was exciting in a really subtle way because you don’t anticipate ever hitting all six. Six numbers on the Powerball is … the odds are you’ll die before … You’ll walk out and get hit by lightning before you win that one,” Jerry told KABC.
The cash value for the drawing was $21.9 million, while the grocery store received $220,000 for selling the winning ticket. Jerry, however, claims he still hasn't received any compensation and blasted the slow verification process, which the lottery takes to confirm it's paying the rightful winner.
“The process is really horrible for a winner of a big … any big lotto winnings,” he said. “They won’t tell you ‘By this date, you’ll get the funds.’ They won’t tell you that. They leave it open-ended so you’re sitting, waiting daily,” hoping to get the funds.
Lottery officials will vet any individual claiming to have a winning ticket, which includes conducting an investigation from the lottery's law enforcement team and cross-checking to make sure the winner doesn't owe the state any taxes or child support prior to making payments. California Lottery winners can receive their prize as early as four weeks, however, that rarely happens, according to Carolyn Becker, Deputy Director of Public Affairs and Communications for the California State Lottery.
“California Lottery processes, believe it or not, 10,000-plus claims a month, so we want to manage the expectations of our winners,” Becker said via KABC.