Man accidentally got two winning NC lottery tickets. So now his twin is a winner, too
A North Carolina man accidentally got two winning lottery tickets — and now his twin brother will share in the wealth.
Timothy Emerick — whose lottery tickets were worth $100,000 each — said he plans to let his brother have one of the prizes.
“Over the years whenever I’ve needed him he’s been there,” Emerick told the N.C. Education Lottery in a Dec. 21 news release. “I think he’d do the same thing if the situation was reversed.”
Emerick won the Powerball prize after a mistake at BJ’s Wholesale Club in Garner, a Raleigh suburb. Officials said he works at the store and bought the lucky $3 tickets from someone else on the staff.
“The gentleman at the store accidentally printed two tickets with the same numbers so I just decided to buy them both,” Emerick told lottery officials.
It turns out, the tickets matched five of the six numbers picked in the Dec. 13 Powerball drawing. Since Emerick spent an extra dollar on each of his tickets, his prizes doubled from $50,000 to $100,000, according to the game’s rules.
Emerick, who recently moved to North Carolina to be near his brother, said splitting the winnings with him was an easy choice.
“I always said if I won I would share it with him,” Emerick told the N.C. Education Lottery.
Emerick kept $71,251 after taxes and plans to put his portion of the prize money toward bills. Though he got a big windfall, his tickets were one number away from hitting the drawing’s estimated jackpot prize of $504 million.
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Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 7:41 AM with the headline "Man accidentally got two winning NC lottery tickets. So now his twin is a winner, too."
