FedEx workers known as 'Purple Eight' team up to win $2 million Powerball prize
A group of eight FedEx workers teamed up to win Saturday night’s Powerball drawing, worth $2 million.
The group is known as “The Purple Eight” and they work together at the FedEx in Hope Mills.
“I’ve been having dreams lately about the winning ticket being sold in Fayetteville,” said Michael Walker of Raeford, a spokesman for the group. “So, I bought at least one ticket in Fayetteville for each drawing.”
The group has purchased lottery tickets for years.
Walker’s dreams became a reality as the group’s winning ticket came from the Harris Teeter on Raeford Road in Fayetteville.
“It was a shock,” Walker said. “My girlfriend ran into the backyard screaming and yelling.”
The winning $3 Power Play ticket matched numbers on all five white balls in Monday’s drawing, which doubled the prize for the group to $2 million. After taxes, each worker takes home about $177,525.
Besides Walker, the winners were Robert Peterson III of Fayetteville, Phillip Freeman of Rowland, Derick Hunt of Lumberton, John Oxendine of Lumberton, Catherine Simpson of Raeford, Tharp Bordeaux of Elizabethtown, and Mickey Sessoms of Marston.
The recent Powerball roll ended Wednesday night after a ticket in Arizona hit the $473 million jackpot. Saturday’s Powerball drawing offers a $20 million jackpot, or $12 million in cash. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are one in 292 million.
Powerball is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. The other games are Mega Millions, Lucky For Life, and Carolina Cash 5.
