6/01/2009 - 3:50 PM

Lockport Man is Latest in a String of $200,000 Powerball Winners

Jerome Shields of Lockport, pictured with his wife Valerie, claimed his $200,000 Powerball prize at the Lottery's New Orleans regional office after matching five of the white ball numbers in the April 8 drawing.

Disbelief washed over Jerome Shields as he sat staring at the last Powerball ticket in the stack he had just checked. That ticket matched all five of the white ball numbers from the April 8 Powerball drawing, making the 54-year-old Lockport resident the latest in a string of $200,000 winners.

"I always check all of my tickets to see if I match the Powerball number first.  I hadn't for the April 8 drawing, but I went back through them to check for matching white ball numbers," said Shields. "Tuesday, I went back through all the winning tickets I had set aside just to verify how much I had won, and I couldn't believe what I saw. The last ticket matched all five of the white ball numbers!"

Shields said that while the idea of winning is still sinking in, he knows he will use some his winnings to host a retirement party for his wife.

He purchased his winning ticket at Acadian Express #4622 on Martin Luther King Drive in Houma. The store received a $2,000 bonus for selling Shields his winning ticket.

The winning numbers for the April 8 Powerball drawing were 01-06-48-52-56 and the Powerball number was 09.

Players must be at least 21 years old to purchase a Lottery ticket.  The Lottery encourages anyone who has a gambling problem or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867 for help. For security purposes, the Lottery also encourages players to sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing.




Acadian Express #4622 Manager Atalanta West and Assistant Manager Brandon Martinez in Houma display a "big check" for $2,000, the store's bonus for selling a $200,000 winning match-5 Powerball ticket from the April 8 drawing.