A park ranger won a $29.5 million lottery jackpot while she was furloughed during the government shutdown

Kelly McLaughlin

February 21, 2019 6:44 PM

The winning Powerball numbers are shown after being drawn at the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee, Florida January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Philip Sears

Judith Smith, of Bayonne, New Jersey, and her children, William Kenneth Smith and Sarah Jude Smith, were announced as lottery winners on Wednesday.
They won the the $29.5 million jackpot on Dec. 17, 2018, but waited two months to pick up the winnings after consulting with lawyers and financial advisers.
Judith Smith is a park ranger at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, New York, which closed with the government shutdown.
She was out of a job four days after learning she had won the lottery on December 18.

A park ranger who was furloughed during the government shutdown in December and January won a $29.5 million lottery jackpot in New Jersey.

Judith Smith, of Bayonne, New Jersey, and her children, William Kenneth Smith and Sarah Jude Smith, were announced the winners of the $29.5 million Pick-6 Jackpot on Wednesday, according to a news release from the New Jersey Lottery .

Smith, a park ranger at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, New York, bought the lottery ticket on December 17, five days before the recreational area was closed for the government shutdown.

The shutdown kept Smith out of work until January 25.

Smith learned of her winnings on December 18 at a self-check machine at a liquor store in Bayonne.

The family sought legal and financial advice before publicly claiming the jackpot on Wednesday.

Smith told lottery officials that she kept the lottery ticket in a "safe place" while speaking with her lawyers.

The liquor store where Smith purchased her ticket, Eddy's Wine & Liquor, in Bayonne, New Jersey, will receive $10,000 for selling the winning ticket.

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Kelly McLaughlin

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