Powerball Winners in Fredericksburg Claim Second-Largest Virginia Lottery Prize

Dave and Nancy Honeywell won the second-largest prize ever awarded by the Virginia Lottery, Paula Otto, Virginia Lottery Executive Director, said Thursday .

The Honeywell's chose the one-time cash option of $136.4 million before taxes, and received their check on Valentine's Day from Virginia Lottery officials..

Dave Honeywell had purchased the ticket from one of Virginia Lottery’s two Lottery Express machines in the atrium of Richmond Airport as he was leaving on a business trip. "He used Easy Pick, allowing the computer to randomly select the numbers on his ticket," lottery officials said.

The next morning before a meeting in Denver, he checked the winning numbers on the Lottery’s website.  All six numbers matched.  He immediately called his wife Nancy.  “I thought he might be having a heart attack,” Nancy later told lottery officials.

The winning numbers were 5-27-36-38-41 and Powerball number 12, lottery officials said. 

This is Virginia’s first Powerball jackpot win, lottery officials said. Seven Mega Millions jackpots have been won in Virginia.

Dave and Nancy both work for the Department of Defense, where he's a computer scientist and she’s a project manager.  Neither have immediate plans to quit their jobs. "He said he doesn’t want to quit because he’s in the middle of an important project," lottery officials said. "However, his 13-year-old car with 170,000 miles could soon be history."

Powerball drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. They are broadcast on TV stations across Virginia and live on www.valottery.com.