The New Jersey deli owner who won the $338 million Powerball jackpot last week sliced off a piece of his prize to pay nearly $30,000 in back child support yesterday.
Pedro Quezada, 44, appeared in Passaic County Family Court in Paterson, NJ, and cut a certified check for the payments, rounding the total up from the $29,490 he owed dating to 2009.
The jackpot's sole winner has five children ages 5 to 23. Three are minors, his attorney said.
In court, the newly minted multimillionaire said he will be moving his kids into his new home.
"My children will be living with me from now on," said Quezada, who spoke through a Spanish interpreter and wore earphones to hear translations of the proceedings.
Because he chose the lump-sum option, Quezada received about $152 million last week after taxes.
It is the third-largest lump-sum payment in Powerball history.
Quezada beat 175 million-to-1 odds when he bought the winning ticket at a liquor store in Passaic using the Quick Pick method.
Normally, the state Lottery Division satisfies judgments and liens before the winnings are released but failed to do so this time.
Even though he's paid up, Quezada will continue to owe $141 in child support per week until he can petition the court and prove that his children are, in fact, living with him.
His lawyer, Paul Fernandez, said that the younger children had been living on and off with Quezada over the years and that their mother and Quezada were on good terms. He declined to elaborate.
"This is just a bump in a road. He always had a relationship with his kids," Fernandez said.
"He purposely overpaid to show how much he wanted to keep his children," the attorney added.
Judge Ernest Caposela offered Quezada some free financial advice.
"There are going to be a lot of people who are going to ask you to invest in things because of your good fortune," Caposela said, "but investing in your children is the wisest investment you can make."
After the hearing, Fernandez dismissed rumors that Quezada had offered to pay his neighbors' rent for a month or two.
"While his heart goes out to families in need," Fernandez said, "his family comes first." [Editor: this is not an outright denial.]
Fernandez, who is also handling Quezada's trust, said the now-retired deli owner from the Dominican Republican has other benevolent plans.
"He wants to set up a foundation for homeless children in the Dominican Republic and here."
I am glad he got this over with
Good luck to him and his future!
I hope he becomes a good father to all his kids and doesn't think that throwing money at them and buying them everything they want is being a good father.
Well he finally got the big check.. congratulations to him.. I pray and hope he does well in all of his furture endeavors.
I hope he will spend more time with his kids and not just sending child support checks. Also I suggest he buys a lot of condoms because he will be getting lots of action after winning all that money.
Your on the right path Pedro, taking care of you kids setting up trust
wishing you and your family all the best.
I thought he was married
lol since when has marriage stopped people from doing whatever? Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Elliot Spitzer, Larry King, Tiger Woods....sad but true
But with Arnold Schwarznegger he will say I'll Be Back to his kids and support them. -.- Sorry cheesey pun, had to be done.
Grats to Pedro getting his finances in order.
"My children will be living with me from now on," said Quezada,
Smart Kids: daddy $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
LOL, I agree
I wonder how much ole attorney Paul Fernandez and his friends are going to skim off of this guy? Methinks they will be the real lottery winners when this is all done. Naive, trusting, uneducated client who has never had or dealt with large sums of money. A dream come true.
I am surprised he got his money so fast.
This is probably one of the worst people that could have won.
I see a lottery curse unfolding.
Perhaps you should call him and ask him what his fees are
Law Offices of Paul Fernandez & Associates, phone# 973-523-5353 ...
This is one of the best guys to ever win the Lottery, money will be distributed amongs his loved ones just the way Divine has planned . I'm so glad people with negative attitude here did not win !!
He is not the same as Jack. Look at his smile, then look ay Jack.
I am guessing when this is all said and done Pual & Co. will pocket about 75% of this man's money. It will disappear into fees and bad investments. I am guessing his decision to hire this man was more about his last name than whether he was an honest, competent and trusthworthy attorney. For $150+ million, believe me, I am going to spend more than a week researching and vetting lawyers, accountants and financial advisors. I'll run background checks on your grandmother if I deem it necessary.
I wont need a Lawyer, and my financial planners name is Moe.
I thought Jack would have at least purchased a set of teeth? Perhaps a stiff drink was more important?
where do you buy teefe? do walmart sell them?
moe- money..moe money lol
No but you can get some Grillz and make do till you find some teefe.
we should buy Jack some teefe, write to him and see how much he needs?
yup...it'll be bling it up for 2 years or so...buy eveyone on the block hondas pay their rent also and so on and so forth.Have parties with women whom otherwise that wouldn't even lookin at cha
I may suck at betting numbers but I can sure retire if betting on people had monetary value...this likely will end up tragic (or very close to it)somewhere down he road.I can smell it.
He may as well practice saying;;"can ya spot me a bogey bro"..lol
Teef are overrated.
There probably ain't a whole set of teef between me and everybody for 10 miles around me.
And you don't need teef for a stiff drink anyway.
Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go to the baff room.
You guys are COMPLETLEY WRONG on this one and I wish there was a line in Vegas. What a poor judge of character you guys must be.
Moe would charge a very small percentage on a sliding scale.
I hope I am wrong..I don't wish any ill-will towards the guy,it just wreaks of doom and gloom in my book.
It sound a lot like you are wishing doom on someone.........
All you have to do is "consider the source" and realize that Pedro is NOT a dope head drunk like Jack and his family.
"Sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand."
-Cool Hand Luke
Check this one and let us know how much he charges. http://www.compak.com/
Well I would pull a Lorraine Bobbit just saying
lol
Remind me to stay away from you, dallas...
Let me ask a question...... What do you think Pedro would say if someone suggested (in his native language) Hey Pedro, grab up $700k in cash and head down to the strip club"..........
He would probably say, why not an even million?
I can't say really,but I get the strong feeling he's gonna look like that geico commercial with the motorcylclist made of money and it's flying off him while he's riding
lol
My hubby just told me he was getting a male chastity belt
OMG lol.. I met her one time. I swear. She was working as a manicurist (afterwards...maybe 1996 or so) at a Northern VA hair salon and I went in for a haircut. They introduced me to her and I said Hi but I had no clue who she was then. During the time I was there, I saw all these women come in to book manicurist appts. with her for their boyfriends/husbands and giggle nervously(now is that freudian or what?). I thought how odd and she must be really good and only realized who she was weeks after when I saw something in the Wash. Post about her working there. She was not there long and left to write a book but I am not sure it was ever written or published.
You have no idea how small she is...about 4 ft. 8 and 95 lbs at best.
Oh my small world I would be to scared to trust her with sharp objects
He WILL go broke
I wouldn't let her give me a manicure.
And I sure wouldn't go to any weenie roasts at her house either!
lol I remember the t-shirts they were selling all over, "Manassas, a cut above the rest" with a drawing of a knife.
Stop, I'm gonna have nightmares!
Thrifty's attorney announced at a press conference this afternoon, "My client will play the lottery SOME DAY."
Lol No they didn't
Heh,heh,heh,heh,heh...
LOL, I never went back to a 7-11 after that, was afraid to see what might be on the lawn.
I truly hope this guy keeps his money, and that his newly hired attorney doesn't take him to the cleaners. That he paid off his child support debt first shows he's got his heart in the right place; family first. Btw, I didn't know ol' Jack Whittaker was a doper, I thought he was just an arrogant idiot who refused to allow anyone to tell him anything...
Actually he was a nice guy who didn't know how to handle that much money.
And he didn't know that throwing money at kids is one of the worst things you can do.
He did some good things too.
I believe he meant well.
Lord knows I won't cast the first stone.
Lol good one
I would say that as we can see, he is a god father. He now has the kids and I think that is wonderful because at least he will have a hand is raising them and can provide a good education for them. Some men don't even want to help. Give him a chance, let him buy them what he thinks they should have, remember--he didn't have much!
Good father? He had at least 5 kids with God knows how many women and was not taking care of them. His child support is $141 a week and he owed $30,000. That means that he paid no child support for almost 4 years. Does a man that paid no support for years and years sound like a good father to you?
I agree! People are posting as if this man is some kind of hero. He bought a PB ticket and got lucky. He didn't run into a burning building to save people.
yeah good, bad , saint, or sinner, you have the same chance. how you survive depends on you. now pass the popcorn,
"That he paid off his child support debt first shows he's got his heart in the right place' family first."
No, he didn't. It is automatically deducted by the state if you owe child support. Gosh, the man won over $300 million and he's suddenly a great family man because instead of going to jail he paid off his back child support. Let's throw him a parade.
For the record, that was Jack Whittaker I was talking about, not Pedro.
I agree with you. Of course I never met the man but judging from all the stories, he sounds like a lost soul.
how about who ever won the PB recently for $50 mill jackpot? i bet hes happy the other guy has all the media attention!
booze and lottery came before his kids.
NO you idiot that law caught up to him, they make him pay or jail! Hello.
He has the kids because is better for his checkbook.
Question:
Why did the law took so long to caught up to him.
Answer:
Well they are incompetent as well.
Been a father is not just having a relationship with them, you have to put food on the table NO EXCUSE ON MY BOOK
Now he has a chance to turn things around, but I seriously doubt because he is hardwire different than a normal person
Don't have children you can't afford. period
The mother of this children are idiots too for letting this looser (human garbage) see the children, it is very simple you don't provide food you don't get to see them that's it.
One thing I cannot stand is anybody doing any kind of harm to the elderly or children is the lowest point of a human been.
Hey even smoking near a child should be considered child abuse!!!
Is that hard to comprehend?
Really?
Am sure that we all have something in our lives tht people are not happy about how we chose or path. However, part of what u stated isn't true because 3 of his kids are by his wife and DO live with him. It would look very bad if the previous 2 kids wld not be able to share in his wealth by loving with him, like his arital kds.
We can only speculate abt his future and hope to wish him well---you are right though that he just got lucky...
good post and thank you
Do we really know how and why he got behind, no we don't. And am sure if he didn't win the lottery, the amount would have grown...U r right about harmng children because I know a few that could care less abt thier child's (that do not live with them) future.
This is just a discussion and shld not be written as a condescending topic to those that post.
I play my lottery at the liquor store all the time but do not buy liquor. However, not sure in this guys case. He just had a $1 and a dream, it paid off. I just have a $1 and a dream and am hoping for the same...don't we all?
Remember, he didn't pay it---since it was in the records by the courts that it was outstanding---the lottery had to deduct that first before they gave him his final check.
Just like if you won the lottery and owe student loans, I may not have wanted to pay them but regardless the lottery had to take out the government's money first!!!!!!
I didn't know you can buy lottery tickets at a liquor store in Oklahoma
learn something new everyday. Now I have an excuse to go the liquor just saying
He said he would no longer be working at the bodega he has owned in Passaic, New Jersey for seven years, and will insist that his 23-year-old son, who runs the store, will quit the job as well.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299067/Powerball-winner-Pedro-Quezada-shocked-ticket-worth-338million.html#ixzz2PPZrRtJ5
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook Seems to me if he own this Deli, then why didn't he keep up his child support?
Perhaps he was paying in sandwiches, and the state failed to recognize those payments
LOL
His son is going to have to realize his Bodega days in that area are over, permanently. He'd be subject to kidnapping and/or extortion/robbery in no time.
The well-wishing of the neighborhood will eventually give way to jealousy, vindictiveness and misdirected anger and vengeance by the entitlement types in the area.
That's the sad commentary of life nowadays.