A US Army vet who won a staggering $44.5 million jackpot has started spending his windfall by paying off his house, making investments and giving money to his family.
Jerry Heath, who served six years in the Army and is now a retired Long Beach Police Department detective, has always been a daily lottery fanatic in California — and it finally paid off after he struck gold last August.
But it took almost five months before the new multimillionaire saw a single cent.
“I felt great, but I was so stressed about it,” said the lucky winner ABC-7. ‘I’m grateful. I’m going to be a millionaire for the rest of my life.’
He bought a Powerball ticket at Ralph’s grocery store in south Orange County for the Aug. 19 drawing, featuring some of his favorite numbers – 1, 2, 15, 23, 28 and the red Powerball 10 – which is his lucky number.
The odds of winning the Powerball are one in every 292,201,338, but the odds were in his favor.
That same night, all six numbers, including his lucky number, were drawn, making him the winner of a whopping $44.5 million.
“It was exciting in a very subtle way,” Heath told the outlet. “You don’t expect to hit all six.”
Jerry Heath, a US Army vet and retired California detective, revealed he will spend his staggering $44.5 million jackpot winnings on paying off his house, investing and sharing it with family
The California resident, who plays the lottery every day, waited almost five months before seeing a single cent of his earnings
‘Six numbers on a Powerball. There’s a good chance you’ll walk out and get struck by lightning before you win it.”
He finally picked up his check two weeks ago, which contained his lump sum option of nearly $17 million, after it took the state nearly 12 weeks to pay the money – all due to a lengthy vetting process to prove he was the rightful was the winner of the game. .
“I am a very happy person,” he told the newspaper California Lottery as he described how he went from a low-income upbringing to winning a life-changing amount of money.
People always think about what they would spend their money on if they happened to win the lotto, but for Heath, luxury and material things were out of the question.
He revealed that he has since paid off his house and made some improvements and invested some of his millions after receiving the money.
As for the rest of his wealth, Heath plans to share it with his daughter and grandchildren.
“I can’t forget where I came from now that I’m a multi-millionaire,” he said The New York Post. ‘I don’t really travel; playing the lottery is my only luxury.’
Heath was never one to skip playing the lottery every day, knowing that some of the money went to a charity he personally supports.
He bought a Powerball ticket at Ralph’s grocery store in south Orange County for the Aug. 19 drawing with some of his favorite numbers — and all six were drawn that same night.
Heath told ABC7: ‘I can’t forget where I came from now that I’m a multi-millionaire. I don’t really travel; playing the lottery is my only luxury’
In California, about 80 cents of every $2 Powerball ticket goes to the state’s education system to help fund public schools.
The state lottery has raised more than $46 billion for the state’s public schools since its inception in 1985.
In the year 2023-2024 alone, the lottery has raised more than $2 billion for the Golden State’s education system.
Still, Heath hopes other winners won’t have to go through the same stressful wait he did, as he remains disappointed with the worrying amount of time it took the state to pay him.
The state’s vetting process for each person with a winning ticket consists of an investigation by the lottery’s law enforcement team, where they check the winner to ensure they do not owe any money to the state, taxes or child support.
Four weeks is the earliest a winner will see their huge cash prize, but this is very rare.
“California Lottery, believe it or not, processes over 10,000 claims a month,” Carolyn Becker told ABC 7. “So we want to manage the expectations of our winners.”
Heath told the California Lottery that he plays the lottery every day and now that he has a Powerball win, his sights are set on an even bigger prize – SuperLotto Plus – which is only offered in the Golden State.
A former boss also told the outlet that this huge win “couldn’t have happened to a better person.”