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Tennessee couple claim $2.48-billion Powerball jackpot

The Tennessee couple appeared on Today with their daughters and their lawyer.

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The family then reached out to a friend for financial advice and was put in touch with Joe Townsend, an estate planning and tax attorney in Memphis who had the idea for them to reveal themselves on TODAY.

Munford Mayor Dwayne Cole said Friday that he thinks John and Lisa Robinson are not the kind of family that will follow past lottery winners who have squandered their money quickly.

Just look at John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, who scooped up one of the three winning tickets just two hours before the drawing when Lisa urged John to stop on his way home from work, even though he wasn’t feeling well.

Mr Robinson said he and his wife were excited about their winnings but were “a little scared” about their future. “She also remembers talking to him and he bought four tickets, I believe for his children”, said Dana Naifeh.

Their neighbor Mary Sue Smith told The AP that Lisa Robinson asked her to put “No Trespassing” signs on their lawn while they were away.

An Indian-origin convenience store owner in the United States has become a celebrity overnight after he sold one of the three Powerball winning lotteries with a record jackpot of $1.6 billion. It was the largest lottery prize offered in North America and no other lottery in the world had ever featured a jackpot of that size that could be won on a single ticket. They were one number from the $1.6 billion jackpot.

A blue sign reading “Millionaire Made Here” still hangs behind the counter, but unlike Thursday, when lottery sales spiked here in response to the announcement, employees say sales were back to normal Friday, Jan. 15.

Tennessee Lottery executive Rebecca Hargrove said the couple would get a “small check today for a few million”, and collect the full lump sum in about 10 business days.

The couple said they will be at the lottery office Friday. There’s a one in 292.2 million chance of winning the Powerball, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible!

Perhaps waiting to see how things work out for the Robinsons, the winners in California and Florida haven’t yet come forward. “I’m nervous for you”, one of the show’s hosts said to Mr Robinson, who held the piece of paper in his hand throughout the show.

A Munford man said he won the Powerball this week, a national media outlet reported Friday.

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Both John, 58, and Lisa Robinson confirmed that they plan on continuing to work at their jobs.

John and Lisa Robinson of Munford Tennessee show off what they claim is one of the three winning Powerball tickets from the largest jackpot in history. Source TODAY