Kathy Stewart, wtop.com
WOODBRIDGE, Va. – A Leesburg woman was one number shy of winning a Powerball jackpot estimated at $216 million but she still took home a $1 million consolation prize.
Norma Chhaunkar picked up her winnings Friday afternoon at the Virginia Lottery’s north office in Woodbridge.
She had matched the first five numbers in the March 16 Powerball drawing. Chhaunkar says her husband teased her asking why she didn’t hit all six numbers.
“Oh my God, I am very happy,” she said nervously to a group of reporters.
A wife and mother of two children, Chhaunkar works at a Giant supermarket deli in Leesburg. Despite the seven-figure check, she says she stills feels poor.
She’s not alone in this winner’s circle. A Fredericksburg couple won a $217-million Powerball jackpot last month. For them, it was a sweet Valentine’s Day as they picked up their winnings. They opted for a one-time cash payment of $136 million before taxes.
“Powerball is very hot in Virginia right now,” says Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty.
Hagerty says it’s unusual in Virginia to have both a Powerball jackpot winner and a million-dollar winner within about a month of each other.
Wednesday, Virginia Lottery officials announced that a Sterling man won $1 million on a scratch-off ticket he bought at 7-Eleven in Annandale.
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