Tennessee couple claim they won the Powerball jackpot

John Robinson and his wife Lisa bought four tickets at Naifeh’s Food Mart, a grocery store one block from their home in Munford, Tennessee, at 6:56 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Crowds descended on the California store after word emerged it had sold a winning ticket, with excited customers snapping pictures and congratulating the sales associate. Even though they won they still plan to play the next time the Powerball jackpot breaks $100 million.

According to her Facebook page, Lisa works at a dermatology clinic and went to Munford High School. John is a warehouse supervisor.

Mrs Robinson said she would return to work on Monday and the family hopes not to leave their home in Munford, Tennessee.

“I feel very good, some lucky customer came here and made me famous”, Atwal, 57, told The Washington Post. “You just can’t sit down and lay down and not do nothing anymore”. Because how long are you going to last?

There have been hoax winners in the past and lottery officials have so far not announced any winners the three states where the tickets were sold: Tennessee, California and Florida. Winners have to pay 39.6 percent of the prize in federal income taxes, in addition to any state taxes.

Powerball jackpot co-winners Lisa and John Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, their daughter Tiffany Ro …

The couple plan to take the lump sum payout, about $327m (£230m), because they are “not guaranteed tomorrow”. “We just wanted a little piece of the pie”. “We didn’t get enough sleep”.

Appearing with his lawyer on the morning show, John said he was “scared” when he realized that he had the winning numbers.

Townsend, a “Today” show fan, advised the Robinsons to reach out to the show first rather than go to lottery officials so that they can “have control” of their story.

“Now I’ll be nervous because everybody knows”, John said.

He called the prank “despicable” in an interview with ABC News and said he would pay for the nurse to take a family vacation anywhere she would like.

Their daughter Tiffany, who flew with them to NY and back, is looking forward to paying off her student loans. “I knew that I wanted to get an accountant”. “I get a horse now”.

NBC was somewhat skeptical of the Robinson’s claim because they had yet to report their win to the Tennessee lottery commission. Their lawyer went with the family, as did their rescue dog, Abby, who snoozed through most of the excitement.

“All lottery winners names are public record”, Lopez said.