SACRAMENTO, October 10, 2002 — Lottery officials announced that 30 Gulfstream employees came forward to claim half of Wednesday's SuperLotto Plus jackpot of $82 million. The group captain, Betty Plunkett who organizes the player group said," It's so gratifying to see 30 people and their families so happy. They are dear to my heart and soul because we are friends and very much like a family." Plunkett, who started the group 12 years ago, is part of the Avionics group who play together "all the time." She always buys her tickets at 7-Eleven in Lakewood where her friend JoJo is the General Manager. "I called to tell him we won and we both started to cry." The retailer will receive half of one percent of the prize of $41 million or $205,000.
The group of 30 will split $22.9 million (the cash option for $41 million) giving each winner a prize of $763, 350 before a 27.5% federal withholding because there are no state taxes on lottery prizes. The final payment to each winner will be over half a million or $553,428. When asked what her plans are for the prize money, Plunkett said, "I love my job and I won't retire right away but it's going to make everything a lot easier for me and my fellow workers.
SuperLotto Plus is played at more than 18,000 retail business establishments around the state. The SuperLotto Plus draw takes place each Wednesday and Saturday night at 7:58 p.m. Players may purchase tickets until 7:45 p.m. on the night of the draw.
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