A California store owner who sold a record-breaking PowerBall lottery ticket has been rewarded with a $1 million prize.
Former Cincinnati Bengals Nose Tackle Domata Peko reportedly took to Instagram to share the news that his father-in-law - a gas station owner in Altadena, California - had been awarded a life-changing payout for selling the lucky ticket.
Per a Daily Bulletin report, Peko's father-in-law, Joe Chahayed, has owned Joe's Service Centre in Altadena, California for over 20 years.
Per CNN, after so many years serving the local community, Chahayed found himself at the center of a momentous local event yesterday (November 8) when lottery officials informed him that a winning ticket had been purchased at his service station.
The lucky ticket holder is entitled to a record-breaking jackpot of $2.04 billion - the largest jackpot in US lottery history.
Although the ticket holder has not yet come forward to claim their prize, lottery officials were able to get in touch with Chahayed and inform him that the winning ticket was purchased at his store.
As a result, the gas station owner was awarded a $1 million jackpot of his own, which he was presented with outside his store by lottery officials.
Speaking to reporters, Chahayed, 75, revealed that he had no plans to retire despite having just become a millionaire.
The father of five - who first came to the U.S. from Syria - said he loves his work and plans to share the money with his five children and 11 grandchildren.
"No one else deserves this more than this man who's worked hard all his life," his son Danny told reporters.
Meanwhile, lottery officials are waiting eagerly for the winner of the eye-watering $2.04 billion jackpot to come forwards. Their ticket matches all six winning numbers - 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and Powerball number 10.
However, the winner could well miss out on their life-changing prize if they aren't careful. Powerball rules state that only an original ticket - not a copy - will entitle the holder to claim their prize. If they don't hand it in before the one-year window is up, then they'll lose their money for good.
But that won't stop Chahayed from enjoy his own payout. His son-in-law Peko took to his Instagram story to celebrate the win, writing: "My Father In-Law Sold the winning PowerBall 2 billion $ Congratulations Baba," per Fox 19.