BY RICHELLE THOMPSON and RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
John Jarrell identified himself as one of the Powerball winners.
(AP photo)
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WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- A group of machinists who call themselves the
"Lucky 13" are so close that somebody has to die or leave their Westerville manufacturing company before a newcomer can join, a co-worker said Thursday.
The "Lucky 13" from the suburb 20 minutes north of Columbus lived up to their name Wednesday night, beating 80 million-to-1 odds to win the largest Powerball jackpot ever -- $295.7 million. The previous record jackpot for a single winner was $195 million, also in the Powerball game, won by an Illinois couple in May.
The men will split the $161.5 million lump-sum payment, which comes to $12.4 million each before taxes. The jackpot was more than 17 times the annual budget of Westerville, a city of 36,000, and $11 million more than the city of Cincinnati's 1998 budget.
"Everybody has that kind of deer-in-the-headlights look -- either because you won or because you didn't," said Barb Palmer, controller at Automation Tooling Systems Ohio Inc. (ATS) in Westerville, where the Lucky 13 work. She said the men are young and old. Some are family men; others are single. All in all, Mrs. Palmer said, they are "a neat bunch of guys."
The group had played various lotteries for at least five years, Mrs. Palmer said. This time, they each pitched in $10 and sent one of the men 100 miles west to a Richmond, Ind., Speedway station to buy Powerball tickets.
Speedway feels as if it won the jackpot too, spokesman Chuck Rice said. He's hoping residents view the store like a hot slot machine and keep coming to buy tickets.
The store received $100,000 for selling the winning Powerball ticket, which will go into the profit-sharing pot to be split among employees, Mr. Rice said.
At ATS, "it's impossible for everybody to settle down and work," Mrs. Palmer said. "We're all so stunned." Still, many of the 170 employees at the industrial parts manufacturing company weren't thinking about how they would spend the money but how the Lucky 13 can maintain their privacy, Mrs. Palmer said.
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The rumor that a group from a Westerville manufacturing company held the winning Powerball ticket caused a media frenzy in the community and kept phone lines busy.
Dietmar Hoheisel, owner of Westerville Manufacturing Corp., received 30 calls before 10 a.m. from CNN, area TV stations and newspapers around the country.
The new multimillionaires had the whole town talking, said Val Advent, administrative secretary for the city manager.
"All we know is that it's not a city employee, because they all showed up for work," she said early Thursday. "
To avoid the media swarm Thursday, ATS let the workers go to lunch early so the 13 men could blend into the crowd.
John Jarrell, a burly man with a long mustache, was the first of the 13 men to identify himself. "It took a long time to believe we actually hit it," he said. "You go from totally excited to scared to death."
Mr. Jarrell and his wife, Sandy, both decked out in black Harley Davidson apparel, said they and their three children were already racking up quite a wish list. Tops on Sandy's list was her own Harley to match John's.
The other members of the Lucky 13 tried to remain anonymous Thursday. "They're a little bit afraid, I think," Mrs. Palmer said.
A throng of reporters from the Midwest and New York crowded the Hoosier Lottery headquarters in Indianapolis Thursday, waiting for the winners to claim their prize.
But the group, hoping to avoid notice and take time to get financial and legal advice, decided to wait a few days. Already the men have hired Columbus lawyer Larry Sturtz, who plans to meet with each of the new multimillionaires, said Hoosier Lottery Director James Maguire.
While Mr. Sturtz intends to come forward with the winning ticket within two weeks, he was expected to fax a copy of it to lottery officials, Mr. Maguire said.
While the Lucky 13 were no-shows, Rick and Jere Edwards of Marion, Ind., were more than happy to claim their $100,000 prize at the lottery office. They hit every number but the red powerball. Their appearance generated only mild interest from the press, however.
"The big winners can have all of that attention they want," the coverall-clad Mr. Edwards said, beaming from ear to ear and holding his wife's hand. The couple will use their winnings to pay a few bills -- "like everybody would," Mr. Edwards said, and take a trip to Jamaica.
And they'll keep on playing, hoping to score a multimillion-dollar prize one day.
"I think we've got to reinvest in the system," Mr. Edwards said. "It's the American way."
The Lucky 13 can't escape another American tradition: taxes. A 25 percent federal income tax will be lopped from the top of the winners' prize, and then they will each be responsible for filing state returns in Ohio.
Still, the Lucky 13 should end up with a tidy sum.
"I hope they stick around (at ATS), but I kind of doubt it," Mrs. Palmer said. "Maybe they'll come back to our parties. Maybe they'll buy us a drink."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
