UPS driver wins big with Powerball ticket: ‘All I could do was stand there and cry’
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT/Gray News) – A UPS driver from Kentucky got the surprise of his life just days before Christmas, according to the Kentucky Lottery.
Jeffery Goree works as a driver for UPS and travels to Beckley, West Virginia, five days a week, making several stops along the way to buy Powerball tickets.
Goree purchased the winning Powerball ticket at Clark’s Pump-N-Shop on Versailles Road in Lexington for the Dec. 14 drawing.
It wasn’t until he checked his ticket several days later at a gas station that he discovered he matched four white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000.
“I was checking them. I had about 15 tickets to check and was down to the last two tickets,” Goree said. “It showed, ‘Congratulations, you won $50,000, contact KLC Corp’. I said, ‘Man, this machine is messed up.’ I scanned it again. I’m like, nah, this machine is messed up.”
Goree took the ticket up to the store clerk. “I said, ‘Man, your machine is saying I won $50,000. Could you scan it,’” Goree asked. “Next thing I know he’s telling me, ‘Congratulations!’”
“All I could do was stand there and cry,” Goree said.
After taxes, Goree received a check for $36,000.
When asked what plans he has with the winnings, Goree’s response was an emotional one.
“I would give this money up if I could get just one more Christmas with my mother,” he said.
Goree said that his mother died three years ago and how much she loved playing scratch-off tickets.
Goree said he will pay off his RV and put the rest in the bank.
Clark’s Pump-N-Shop will receive $500 for selling the winning ticket.
Copyright 2025 WKYT via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.