California convenience store owner reacts to selling winning $1 billion Powerball jackpot: ‘Surprised’

The owner of a Los Angeles convenience store received a check for $1 million after selling the winning Powerball ticket worth $1.08 billion.

Under the Powerball rules in California, the retailer that sells the winning ticket earns a 0.5% share of the jackpot with the reward capped at $1 million. With the jackpot being the third largest in Powerball’s history, the owner of the Golden State store collected $1 million.

Navor Herrera

Las Palmitas convenience store owner Navor Herrera. (FOX 11 / Fox News)

On Thursday morning, the owner of Las Palmitas Mini Market, Navor Herrera, received the check during a press conference announcing the store’s lucky lottery ticket sale.

Herrera told FOX 11 he’s owned the mini mart for seven years and plans to take his four children on a vacation, while investing the remainder of the prize money. When he arrived at work Thursday morning, he was greeted with the news that he was a millionaire.

POWERBALL PLAYER IN CALIFORNIA HITS $1.08 BILLION JACKPOT, LARGEST EVER

“Surprised,” Herrera told FOX 11 when he was asked about the win.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Powerball jackpot has yet to come forward, but Powerball officials said that the person has an entire year to come forward.

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At Herrera’s check presentation, a Powerball official said they will be vetting the winner to make sure it’s the right person.

“We have to spend time vetting the winner to make sure it’s the right person, integrity and transparency are extremely important to us,” the official said during a press conference in front of Las Palmitas. “We will probably not know [the winner] for months and months.”

Las Palmitas

Las Palmitas convenience store in Los Angeles sold the winning Powerball jackpot ticket for $1 billion.  (FOX 11 / Fox News)

The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s game were: 7, 10, 11, 13, 24 with a Powerball of 24. The Power Play multiplier was 2X. 

Only two other previous Powerball jackpots have topped the current one in terms of size, the lottery said.

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Powerball gave out its largest-ever grand prize in 2022, when the jackpot reached $2.04 billion. In 2016, someone won the second-largest jackpot at $1.586 billion, according to the lottery.

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