Record Mega Millions lottery jackpot claimed by retired truck driver

Apr 1, 2004, 2:19 pm (14 comments)

Mega Millions

Retired truck driver J.R. Triplett is on Easy Street: He stepped forward Thursday to claim a $239 million lottery prize, the second-biggest undivided jackpot in U.S. history.

Twirling a toothpick in his mouth and holding his wife's hand, Triplett said the prize was "no big thing to me" and gave assurances he would spend it wisely. His wife, Peggy, vowed to "shop till I drop."

Triplett, a regular lottery player, said the ticket was one of five he bought at a convenience store not far from his Winchester home - the Red Apple Country Store in Stephens City, about 80 miles west of Washington, D.C.

He said he had never been in the store before, but went in on the afternoon of the drawing and bought five tickets.

"If I'd just spent $1 that day, I would have won it. I wasted $4. It was on the top line," he said.

J.R. Triplett said that he knew when he heard the numbers being read on television that he had gotten close but it wasn't until he saw them in print that he knew he had the winning ticket. He gave his wife the news.

"I said, 'sweetheart, we got that number.' She sort of broke down, got on her knees and said a little prayer," he said. "It didn't excite me too much and to be honest, to this day it doesn't excite me too much."

The couple said they believe their faith played a role in the win.

"Thank you God. It's truly a gift from you," Peggy Triplett said.

Asked how he was going to spend the money, J.R. Triplett said one of the first purchases was going to be a headstone for a poor childhood friend who died 25 years ago.

Triplett said he waited more than a month before claiming his winnings so he could talk to a lawyer and "get everything straight."

The Tripletts, who declined to give their ages, have two children and two grandchildren.

At a news conference with his wife, Triplett said that he had no big plans for the jackpot but that he wants to put his money in real estate, "because they don't make no more dirt, you know."

Triplett said he has already bought a headstone for a friend's grave and plans to donate to two churches. But he and his wife of 35 years plan to have some fun with the money, too.

"Sweetheart and I might get lost for a couple of days," he said.

The odds of winning were 1 in more than 135 million.

The Tripletts took their winnings in a pre-tax lump sum of $141.5 million, instead of $239 million in 26 annual installments.

The biggest single-ticket jackpot in U.S. history is $314.9 million, won by Jack Whittaker of Scott Depot, W.Va., in a Powerball drawing on Christmas 2002. Three winners shared a $331 million jackpot in 2000.

In the case of the Mega Millions jackpot, the nearly six-week delay in claiming the prize led to speculation that the ticket had been lost or discarded.








Associated Press

Retired truck driver J.R. Triplett is on Easy Street: He stepped forward Thursday to claim a $239 million lottery prize, the second-biggest undivided jackpot in U.S. history.






Lottery Post Staff

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Mana's avatarMana

Mmn.. sounds good I guess ...

... though now we're going to hope he's not going to pull a Jack Whittaker.

 

--- Given that he's *very* laid back about and cashed his ticket, taking his time ... I really think he'll be wise ^^

BabyJC's avatarBabyJC

I can't believe has unexcited/unimpressed he is by winning $239 million!  Geesh

mayan27's avatarmayan27

 

        Finally someone had come up openly to claim that money and satisfied my curiosity.One think i enjoyed about this manis he seems so calm and collective and i'm so happy he remember the dead.What a wonderful guy.All i can say is "Live life to the fullest cuz you deserve it".

joerand

 

Agree, live life to the fullest!

It always makes me happy when someone wins the big bucks! ...just waiting for my turn :-)

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

He seems like a nice man. The headstone for his poor friend brought a tear to my eye.  My little brother died with not a penny to his name and I had to pay for my mother's surgery and his funeral at the same time. His friends got together and put on a charity dvent to pay for his headstone. People who do that are true friends and great human beings.

I should mention that he worked for some well off people who refused to honor back pay and contracts after he died. That also brought a tear to my eye.

CASH Only

I haven't seen any mention of his age.

siloviki's avatarsiloviki
Quote: Originally posted by CASH Only on April 02, 2004


I haven't seen any mention of his age.



About the 12th line down in the above articles says:


 "The Tripletts, who declined to give their ages, have two children and two grandchildren."

prob987

This guy's no Jack Whittaker, I think.

That's a good thing.

CASH Only

Hope not either.

Winners

I wish he would donate enough money to me so that I can build a ten bedroom house for ten needy Youth, ages 12 to 15. I would like to train them up to become lovely young ladies with a future. I would like it to have a theater/auditorium (so that artists can come in to teach them the arts/theater ), a work out room(to help keep them fit), each have their own bathroom, (to teach them cleaning skills along with other duties in the house), a large kitchen(to teach them about nutrition/cooking), a sewing room(to teach them how to sew.

The only way they can enter this house is to have a 2.5 or better and a committment. Those with a GPA below 3.0 will have to show improvement in their GPA each school year in order to live in the house, along with a good attitude and willingness to learn. 3.0 also has to come up to a 3.5 or better.

I would also teach them to give back to the community.

harry613's avatarharry613

I

RJOh's avatarRJOh
Quote: Originally posted by Winners on April 03, 2004



I wish he would donate enough money to me so that I can build a ten bedroom house for ten needy......... ages 12 to 15. ...... lovely young ladies ....... I would like it to have a theater/auditorium ............................... a work out room....... a large kitchen............a sewing room.............................







People  seem to have some great ideas on how to spend other people money, make you wonder what they did with their own money.

RJOh

Todd's avatarTodd
Quote: Originally posted by prob987 on April 02, 2004



This guy's no Jack Whittaker, I think.




Yeah, no hat.
matrixchick

I think Jack Whittaker's problem comes from the fact that he is the largest lottery winner ever and because he said he would donate money and set up the foundation. Couple these two factors with a man who did local and national interviews AND was a gambling fool before he won and carries hundreds of thousands of dollar on him ... well there you go!

 

Other lottery winners don't have his kind of hassles. In fact, I think that a small percentage actually have any hassles at all.

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