Garner man wins two $100K Powerball prizes, gifts one to his twin brother

A Garner man bought two tickets for a Powerball drawing this month and uncovered two $100,000 prizes.

Timothy Emerick plans to give one of the prizes to his twin brother.

“I always said if I won I would share it with him,” Emerick said.

Emerick moved to North Carolina a few months ago to be closer to his brother. He said the decision to give him one of the prizes was easy.

“Over the years whenever I’ve needed him, he’s been there,” Emerick said. “I think he’d do the same thing if the situation was reversed.”

Emerick bought his lucky tickets from the BJ’s Membership Club on Shenstone Boulevard in Garner where he works. He bought the ticket from a store associate who was working at the time.

Emerick matched the numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball to win $50,000. His prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier hit. He said he initially didn’t plan to buy two identical tickets.

“The gentleman at the store accidentally printed two tickets with the same numbers, so I just decided to buy them both,” he said.

Emerick arrived at lottery headquarters Thursday to claim his $100,000 prize. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $71,251. He said he will use his winnings to pay some bills.

Wednesday’s Powerball drawing offers an estimated $620 million jackpot, or $310.8 million in cash.

Players can buy Powerball tickets at any lottery retail location or through Online Play on the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292 million.