Tayeb Souami of Little Ferry, N.J., (R) came forward as the winner of the $315.3 million Powerball jackpot and claimed a $183.2 million pri...
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| Tayeb Souami of Little Ferry, N.J., (R) came forward as the winner of the $315.3 million Powerball jackpot and claimed a $183.2 million prize. Photo courtesy New Jersey Lottery |
By Daniel Uria, UPI
A New Jersey man came forward as the winner of the $315.3 million Powerball jackpot.
Tayeb Souami of Little Ferry, N.J., had the only jackpot winning ticket for the May 19 Powerball drawing and elected to receive a cash prize of $183.2 million, the New Jersey Lottery announced on Friday.
Souami, who has played the lottery for 21 years, didn't check his ticket until May 20 when a stunned employee informed he had won the jackpot.
Souami purchased the ticket at a ShopRite in Hackensak after his wife sent him to return a bottle of orange juice and he spotted a Powerball sign that read $306 million.
"I love orange juice now," he said at a press conference.
He added it took him more than a month to come forward as he was working to make arrangements to quit his job as an accountant for a food importing company.
"I have to take care of them," Souami said. "It's not so easy to quit just like that."
Souami, a 53-year-old father of two added he plans to pay off his college loans, pay for his daughter to go to college next year and pay off his home.
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