Group chose lump sum payout on their lottery winnings
By Chris Van Horne | Friday, May 18, 2012 | Updated 5:19 PM CDT
Chris Van Horne, NBC 5 Fort Worth Reporter
For the first time in a decade, a group of Fort Worth residents are the winners of a Lotto Texas jackpot.
Ten Bell Helicopter employees will split the jackpot after they purchased the winning $28 million dollars Lotto Texas ticket last Saturday.
"I was so excited, I was screaming, my wife thought the house was on fire," said Mario Mercado the group's spokesman.
Life for the employees of Bell Helicopter's Roanoke facility near Alliance Airport is about to change.
"That's a lot of responsibility, with that kind of money, you've got to be smart about it," said Mercado.
The group started playing in January, spending $5 a week. They bought the winning ticket at the Shell Station on Western Center Boulevard in North Fort Worth.
The group created a trust to split the $21.3 million lump sum payment, making it about $1.6 million each after taxes.
"First thing I'm going to do is pay off my house, pay off my truck, pay off all my credit cards," said Mercado.
No word on whether the group plans to keep their jobs.
The gas station where the ticket was bought gets 1 percent of the winnings, that's $280,000.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Bell-Helicopter-Employees-Win-28-Million-Texas-Lotto-152095625.html
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