PORTLAND, Ore. — It could be a couple of weeks before the name of the lucky winner of the $1.3 billion lottery ticket that sold in Northeast Portland is revealed.
"Yesterday, a ticket holder came forward, and we are working through our process to verify the win," said Melanie Mesaros, a spokesperson for the Oregon Lottery.
Mesaros shared some details about the vetting process during a news conference on Tuesday. It was held in the parking lot of the Plaid Pantry that sold the winning ticket on Northeast Columbia Boulevard.
"As you might imagine, a jackpot of this size is unprecedented here in Oregon. It will take time for us to complete the steps and the measures required to award the prize money," she said.
Those steps include verifying the ticket information, the retail purchase and transferring the money from the Multi-State Lottery Association to Oregon to pay the winner, according to Mesaros.
With very few exceptions, Oregon lottery winners cannot remain anonymous due to the law.
"We’re as anxious as you all to learn which one of our customers won this huge amount of money," said Jonathan Polonsky, the CEO of Plaid Pantry, during the news conference. "All our associates are ecstatic that we were able to sell this winning ticket."
The store will receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket: the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history.
Polonsky said the money will go into a store bonus program for employees in certain positions, like assistant managers.
"Our managers generally do a pretty good job of taking care of everybody in the store because it really is a team effort, and that’s how we kind of run the company in general, with more of a family type operation," Polonsky said. "So, people will be taken care of, for sure."
This isn't the first time that a Plaid Pantry store has sold a large prize. Within the past year, Plaid Pantry has sold winning tickets for a $1 million Powerball prize and a $3.3 million Megabucks jackpot.