Newly-Minted Millionaire: Burke Construction Worker Buys $1M Powerball Ticket In Alexandria

When Nicholas Perez of Burke bought a ticket for the April 1 Powerball drawing, the jackpot stood at a jaw-dropping $1 billion.

He bought his ticket at Safeway at 8646 Richmond Highway in Alexandria.

First, the bad news: He didn’t hit the jackpot, lottery officials said.

The good news: His ticket matched the first five winning numbers to win Powerball’s $1 million second-tier prize.

The ticket was one of six in the nation to match the first five numbers and the only one in Virginia.

The winning numbers for the April 1 Powerball drawing were 19-24-40-42-56, and the Powerball number was 23. Perez used Easy Pick and allowed the computer to randomly select the numbers on his ticket.

Perez, who works in construction, said he has no immediate plans for his winnings.

Powerball drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 25.