New Jersey – New Jersey Lottery Acting Executive Director John M. White announced Tayeb Souami of Little Ferry in Bergen County as the sole winner of the Saturday, May 19, 2018 Powerball Jackpot.
Mr. Souami had the only jackpot winning ticket for the May 19th Powerball drawing, making him New Jersey’s newest “MULTI” millionaire. He has elected to take the cash option with a payout of $183.2 million.
This winner has been playing the Lottery for 21 years and is a regular shopper at the Shoprite of Hackensack where the ticket was purchased. The winning ticket was a Quick Pick. Mr. Souami said his son had been urging him for years to stop playing the Lottery because he believed his dad would never win. Definitely, this is one time “father knew best.”
Mr. Souami didn’t check the ticket until the next day, Sunday, when he stopped by another store that happened to be a Lottery retailer.
He scanned the ticket and the screen displayed a message instructing him to see the retailer. After giving the ticket to the clerk, she scanned it and said, “Oh my God!” He asked the clerk what he won and she said, “It’s big.” Mr. Souami asked, “How big?” She replied, “VERY big.” Mr. Souami thought maybe it was the $50,000 prize, but then he saw the validation slip and it said “Jackpot.” He knew then that he had won a LOT of money; his heart was racing and he was shaking so much that it took him four tries to fill out the claim form.
On May 21st, Acting Executive Director White visited the retailer location that sold the winning ticket, Shoprite of Hackensack at 500 South River Street in Hackensack, Bergen County and presented to the store owner, Lawrence Inserra Jr., a $30,000 bonus check for selling the winning ticket at that location. Mr. Inserra said that it is his intention to donate the proceeds from the bonus check to various charities within the area.