TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 28 (UPI) — A Powerball player from rural Tennessee purchased a ticket worth $420.9 million, Tennessee Lottery officials announced Sunday.
The $2 ticket was bought in Lafayette, a town of 5,000 residents 60 miles northeast of Nashville, officials said.
The winning ticket matched all six numbers in Saturday’s drawing in Tallahassee, Fla., 17-19-21-37-44, Powerball 16.
Another ticket matching the first five numbers and the Power Play (2), worth $2 million, was sold in North Carolina. Tickets worth $1 million were also sold in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
The jackpot is the ninth largest Powerball prize in history, and the 12th largest among all U.S. lottery games.
The winner, who has yet to come forward, has 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim the prize.
The recipient can choose to claim the prize in 30 annual payments or to take the lump sum of $243.8 million. Federal taxes must be paid upon receipt of the lump sum. Tennessee doesn’t have a state income tax.
The Powerball drawing had grown since the last winner was drawn on Sept. 17. The pot grew from the estimated $402 million to $420.9 million after Wednesday’s drawing failed to produce a winner.
Three of the 10 largest Powerball prize payouts have happened this year, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, an affiliation of the lotteries that sell Powerball and MegaMillions tickets.
The largest payout in Tennessee was the $528.8 million Powerball prize won in January by a Munford family who split the $1.58 billion world-record jackpot with winners in two other states.
Forty-four states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands offer the Powerball game.
