Austin woman $135k richer

Published 2:36 pm Saturday, May 16, 2009

Jean Chavez of Austin is $200,000 richer. Well, officially roughly $135,500 richer after taxes.

Chavez claimed her prize Friday morning on her Powerball ticket that was purchased at the Ankeny Mini Mart No. 5 in Austin at 1400 14th St. N.W. for the Wednesday drawing. The ticket had the first five numbers correct, minus the power ball number.

For selling the winning ticket, Minnesota State Lottery officials said the mini mart owner will receive a $1,000 cash bonus.

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“It’s nice to see somebody local win,” Ankeny Mini Mart owner Mike Ankeny said.

No one picked all five numbers correctly plus the power ball number to win the $129 million jackpot.

Debbie Hoffmann, public relations manager for the Minnesota State Lottery, said that in Wednesday’s drawing, there were five, $200,000 winners in all, including the one in Minnesota and one each in Arizona, Florida, Indiana and Tennessee. Two more lottery players, one from Tennessee and one from Florida, matched the first five numbers, but paid $1 more on their ticket for the power play and won $1 million.

According to the Minnesota State Lottery’s Web site, the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot, matching the first five numbers and the power ball number, are more than one in 195 million. The odds of matching the first five numbers without the power ball are more than one in 5 million.

Hoffmann said it varies on how often a Minnesota player wins a $200,000 prize.

“It’s hard to say,” she said. “We might get two in a drawing and then three in a row, and then we might go for two months and not have any.”

According to lottery records, Chavez is one of the largest winners for Mower County in the history of the Minnesota State Lottery, which sold its first ticket in April 1990.

Other local significant winnings include $751,915 claimed in 2001; $475,357 claimed in 1991; and $270,693 claimed in 1993. All three winnings came on the Gopher 5 lottery game.

Chavez did not return calls seeking comment.