NASHVILLE – Joseph Bentley, Jr., Mt. Juliet resident and owner of Furniture Installation Source, was the sole winner in Tennessee of $100,000 in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing. Joseph, 42, who purchased the ticket from Mapco, 194 S. Mt. Juliet Road, fell asleep before the televised drawing Wednesday evening.
“I read the winning numbers in the paper this morning,” said Joseph, “and then I laid on the floor for 30 minutes until it finally sank in.” His wife, Cindi, didn’t believe they had really won. “She told me to call her when I had the check,” Joseph laughed.
Although Joseph is not exactly sure what he is going to do with his winnings, other than take a vacation, his good fortune is not going to change his routine. “I buy a Powerball ticket every Wednesday and Saturday and I’m still going to keep playing.”
The Bentleys were among 29,124 winners from Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing who purchased tickets from Tennessee Lottery retailers. The Powerball jackpot for the next drawing on Saturday, June 12, is estimated at $30 million.
As with all Tennessee Lottery games, profits from Powerball tickets sold in Tennessee remain in the state and go to fund education programs. Most immediately, the Lottery is charged with raising at least $88 million by July 1 in order to fund scholarships for an estimated 65,000 students expected to attend Tennessee colleges and universities in the fall.