Rexburg man claims $200,000 winning Powerball ticket bought in Jerome

Zane Powell of Rexburg is Idaho’s big $200,000 Powerball winner.

Powell purchased his ticket from the Valley Country Store in Jerome for last Wednesday’s $758.7 million Powerball jackpot.

It was a prize, though, that almost went unclaimed.

Like many players who do not check their tickets, Powell nearly tossed out his tickets without checking them when he heard the jackpot was won in another state.

“I don’t play very often,” admitted Powell when he claimed his prize in Boise late yesterday afternoon. “I had all these tickets laying in a pile and was going to throw them away, but then thought maybe I ought to check them. The winning one said to claim at the Lottery so I hurried here.”

Powell did not know how much he had won until arriving at Lottery Offices in Boise late Thursday afternoon.

He didn’t believe it when he saw his ticket had won $200,000.

“Is that how much it is?” inquired Powell, who was working construction in Jerome when he bought his ticket. “That’s going to make for a nice vacation next winter.”

He also had another winning ticket worth $16.

With this win, Powell becomes the 199th player to win at least $200,000 from the Idaho Lottery and the sixty-eighth winner of this amount or higher on Powerball in Idaho.