SEPTA Workers Win $173M Powerball

The 48 SEPTA office workers, including a janitor, who became instant millionaires when the hit the lottery last night, will take the $172.7 million as a lump sum, according to a co-worker

Forty-eight SEPTA office workers are instant millionaires, including a janitor and at least a couple of workers close to retirement. They pooled their money and won last night's $172.7 million Powerball with the ticket sold at The Gallery at Market East.

They haven't gone public yet, but Thursday night NBC10 learned from a SEPTA worker who knows some of the winners, that they've decided to take their winnings in one lump sum instead of annual payments. We've also learned that the SEPTA-48 have designated a spokesperson for the group, and are keeping their identities hidden for now.

The cash value for $172.7 million is $107.5 million. That works out to nearly $2.4 million for each SEPTA worker.

NBC10 broke the story Thursday afternoon. SEPTA sent out this statement about an hour later:

"SEPTA is extremely pleased to see this group of dedicated employees share in this good fortune."

Most of the SEPTA lottery winners work on the 11th floor at headquarters on Market Street in Center City. They pooled their money and played the lottery consistently. While office pools are common, the SEPTA-48 has remained a tight-knit group of union members and managers.

"They've worked together for years," co-worker Jeff Coppedge told NBC10's Denise Nakano. "They were on the same floor or if someone got a different job on another floor, the core members kept pooling their money together."

Coppedge says he knows some of the winners and says they deserved to hit the jackpot. "Yeah, they do need a break. They're right at retirement or they've been hanging on."

The cash value for $172.7 million is $107.5 million. That works out to nearly $2.2 million for each SEPTA worker.

The winning numbers are: 4, 25, 29, 34 and 43 with a Powerball of 29. We called the Pennsylvania Lottery to see if anyone had come forward yet with that winning ticket. They said no.

The owner of the newsstand inside The Gallery that sold the ticket got a $100,000 bonus check today from the Pennsylvania Lottery.


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