Those who suspect that there are not many honorable men left in this world will surely appreciate the news coming from Georgia. A lucky player purchased a Powerball ticket one week ago and found out with disbelief that he won the second tier prize awarded to those who match all five numbers without the red ball. For his performance he will receive a million dollars from the lottery, but the winner chose not to keep the entire amount as this would have meant to break a verbal agreement he made with his friends.
One man, one word
The three friends used to play the lottery for years and over the course of time their lives took them to different parts of the country. Before they parted ways they’ve agreed that the one who would ever win the lottery will split the prize with the other two. The one who bought the ticket was Kenneth Wilson from Georgia and with 3, 7, 21 ,44 and 53 being his lucky numbers he scooped $1 million. He didn’t think twice about what he was supposed to do, and immediately informed his good friends.
He told the media that his overwhelming enthusiasm was also produced by the fact that he could almost imagine the reactions and happiness of his buddies. Given the fact that one of them was living in Alaska, the winner had to wait for one week before collecting the prize. The other beneficiary will be his cousin Sandford Watson who lives in Macon and who was among the first to meet Wilson and congratulate him for his good fortune. There were a couple of sleepless nights for Wilson and his wife in the wake of Scoles’ arrival but the wait was definitely worthwhile for all the three players.
Sometimes good deeds get rewarded
The winner was not chasing fame or any financial benefits and only did what he felt to be right, but his decision to split the prize also bears some advantages. Granted the winner would have received significantly more than he will, the total sum would not have been three times larger. The reason is that by dividing the money into three equal parts, each of them will be under $400,000 therefore won’t be subject to a higher rate of taxation.
Those who believe in fate will probably be inspired by the story told by James Scoles to the media, as the 56 years old told the press about his fortune cookie message. It stated that James will be winning the lottery and with the cookie being eaten just one day before the draw some will regard this as more than a mere coincidence. The winners have different plans about how to spend the money, but all of them are happy that they have a few hundred thousand dollars more in their pocket.
Check out the Powerball jackpot winner willing to give something back as well.
About Ben Imler
Hi there, my name is Ben and you can find me on Google+. I`m here to share my passion about the lottery. Lottery players from all over the world will find the latest lottery news, events, promotions and results on our sites. We have gathered more than 40 the biggest world`s lotteries here and I promise, we are not going to stop.
