Powerball: Oregon authorities reveal winner of $1.3B jackpot

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of many winners of a historic $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot final month is an immigrant from Laos who has had most cancers for eight years and had his newest chemotherapy therapy final week.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, of Portland, informed a information convention held by the Oregon Lottery that he and his spouse, Duanpen, would cut up the prize evenly with a pal who chipped in $100 to purchase a batch of tickets with them, Laiza Chao. They’re taking a lump sum cost, $422 million after taxes.

“I can present for my household and my well being,” he stated, including that he’d “discover a good physician for myself.”

He stated that as a most cancers affected person, he puzzled, “How am I going to have time to spend all of this cash? How lengthy will I stay?”

After they purchased the shared tickets, Chao despatched a photograph of the tickets to Saephan and stated, “We’re billionaires.” It was a joke earlier than the precise drawing, he stated, however the subsequent day it got here true.

The profitable Powerball ticket was offered in early April at a Plaid Pantry comfort retailer in Portland, ending a winless streak that had stretched greater than three months. The Oregon Lottery stated it needed to undergo a safety and vetting course of earlier than saying the identification of the one who got here ahead to say the prize.

Below Oregon legislation, with few exceptions, lottery gamers can’t stay nameless. Winners have a 12 months to say the highest prize.

The jackpot has a money worth of $621 million earlier than taxes if the winner chooses to take a lump sum fairly than an annuity paid over 30 years, with a right away payout adopted by 29 annual installments. The prize is topic to federal taxes and state taxes in Oregon.

The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in historical past, and the eighth largest amongst U.S. jackpot video games, in keeping with the Oregon Lottery.

The most important U.S. lottery jackpot gained was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.