Michigan factory supervisor wins $310.5M Powerball ticket

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Tuesday, October 6, 2015
powerball winner
one winning ticket in 310.5 million powerball drawing sold in michigan

THREE RIVERS, Mich. -- A 50-year-old supervisor at a Michigan fiberglass factory is the winner of a $310.5 million Powerball jackpot.

Julie Leach of Three Rivers said she was having a "bad night" at her third-shift job when she took a lunch break. She checked the numbers while waiting in a McDonald's drive-thru.

She said she thought, "Dang, I got three numbers, cool. I kept trying to focus my eyes."

Leach said she went back to work and had to get verification from several coworkers, saying she "couldn't believe it."

And the job? "I quit automatically," she said, calling her job "nasty, dirty."

Leach has been with her partner for 36 years. "He wanted to go to work. I said, 'are you crazy, we don't have to work anymore.'"

She plans to continue to live in Michigan and build houses in Michigan for her and her partner, as well as their three children and 11 grandchildren.

She chose a lump sum of $197.4 million, or $140 million after taxes. It's Michigan's second-largest lottery prize.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.