NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A Tennessee man who carried a slip of paper that could be worth an estimated $533 million to New York City and back delivered the ticket Friday to lottery officials in Nashville, who said they would study it closely to verify the win.
“Now I'll be nervous because everybody knows,” John Robinson said earlier Friday on NBC’s “Today” show, where he appeared alongside his wife Lisa, their daughter, and their lawyer to claim that he held one of the three winning tickets for the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.
The Associated Press could not immediately verify the Robinsons’ claim. There have been hoax winners in the past. News of a winner in California was quickly deflated Friday when that feel-good tale was described as a prank. Lottery officials in Tennessee, California and Florida—the states where the three tickets were sold—have yet to confirm or identify the winners.
The Robinsons said their lawyer advised them appear on national TV even before presenting the ticket to lottery officials, as a way to “control” the story. Lottery spokeswoman Rachel Petrie said she could not confirm the win meanwhile.
