News

Decatur man sweeps up $1M prize while cleaning room

ATLANTA — While cleaning his room, a Decatur man discovered a full load of winnings from a forgotten Powerball ticket. Gregory Jarrett, 26, collected a $1 million Powerball prize from the Jan. 15 drawing from matching the first five winning numbers.

“I was cleaning my room and found the ticket,” Jarrett said. “I was sitting on the ticket and didn’t even know it.”

The lucky winner claimed his prize Feb. 18 at Georgia Lottery headquarters in Atlanta.

Winning numbers from the Jan. 15 Powerball drawing were: 7-8-9-24-29 and the Powerball was 25.

Northside Food Mart #0141, 548 Northside Drive N.W. in Atlanta, sold the winning ticket.

Jarrett’s lucky combination was his siblings’ birthdays.

“I called for my mom, and I walked toward her, shaking,” he recalled. “She verified it, and at that point, we hugged.”

With his winnings, Jarrett anticipates paying off bills.

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot is an estimated $60 million to a single annuity winner.

As with all other Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Powerball will benefit education in the state of Georgia.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $15 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.6 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.3 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.