Powerball: Tennessee couple wins Powerball lottery 10x promotion
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A Murfreesboro, Tennessee, couple struck it rich over the weekend from a Powerball promotion that turned a $200,000 second-prize win into a $2 million jackpot.
Nita and Merwin Scruggs came forward Monday to collect their check and become millionaires.
"We still can't believe it," said 59-year-old Merwin Scruggs, a manager at Graves Metal Products Inc. in Shelbyville, on Monday in a news release. "We didn't sleep at all last night."
The winning Powerball Power Play ticket, which was purchased Friday at Discount Tobacco, 2510B S. Church St., matched all five white numbers correctly, according to Tennessee Lottery spokesperson Rachel Petrie said.
Normally the five numbers matched would result in $200,000, but because the Power Play was purchased and a multiplier of "10" was added as part of a limited-time promotion by the lottery, the drawing was worth $2 million. The largest possible prize other than a Jackpot is usually $1 million.
The Scruggs are the first Powerball players to win this prize level, which is available only during April as part of a special Power Play 10X Promotion, which replaces one of the "5s" on the Power Play wheel with a "10."
The couple, who purchased the winning ticket on their anniversary, said they plan to share their winnings with their two sons and 10 grandchildren.
The Scruggs said they don't want a lot of media attention, and they don't plan to retire right away, Petrie said.
"We wouldn't leave anyone short-handed," Merwin Scruggs said.
The win is the largest in Murfreesboro since the Tennessee Lottery began in January 2004. The largest win in state history was $25.5 million.
Discount Tobacco will receive $5,000 for selling the winning ticket, Petrie said.
As of March 31, the lottery has raised about $842 million to fund specific education programs. More than $3 billion of tickets have been sold, and $1.7 billion has been paid out to winners.