Picture: Valerie Arthur

The Smith family keeps thinking this is some kind of joke.

But as hard as it is to believe, the family of brothers and sisters say they know their $429.6 million payout is real.

Valerie, Marsha, Steven, Jacqueline, Tracy, Kathy, Rene and their mother, Pearlie, revealed themselves as the eight winners of the Powerball jackpot on Thursday.

The Smith family, who primarily hail from Trenton with two coming from Newark, identified themselves as the shareholders of the ticket while their mother, Pearlie, purchased it.

The numbers came to her mother in a dream, said Valerie Arthur, who is retired from the N.J. Department of Corrections. She spoke for the family during a Friday afternoon press conference.

"Divine intervention provided the winning numbers to my mother in a dream," she said. They plan on tithing 10 percent of the winnings to religious causes. "Friday the 13th is now a blessed day."

Pearlie Smith, a pastor at a Trenton church, rarely gambles. But, her daughter explained, the winning numbers — 05, 25, 26, 44 and 66 with 09 as the Powerball number— popped into her head and felt "compelled to listen to the intuition."

Valerie Arthur said her sister, Marsha, had a hard time convincing her on the phone when they actually announced the numbers and discovered they won.

"I said, 'Stop April fooling me and get off my phone,' and she said 'I'm not. It's May. It's May,' " Arthur said.

The Smith family said they have plenty of student loans and mortgages to pay off, so they're looking at this as a welcome gift.

"We won the Powerball and I haven't slept since then," Arthur added.

"I guess you all are wishing you were us right now," she said to laughter.

Arthur said she retired from her prison administrator job in August 2015 after working for the DOC for 27 years.

"I know everyone in the Department of Corrections will be calling," she said to more laughter.

Those holding the lucky ticket, which was purchased in Mercer County, were introduced to the public by Carole Hedinger, New Jersey Lottery executive director, during an event at headquarters in Lawrenceville.

The $429.6 million Powerball jackpot is the 6th largest jackpot in the game's history and it is the largest single jackpot winning ticket sold in New Jersey.

Arthur said they plan to use some of that money for charitable causes, noting that her sister, Kathy, plans to use some of her winnings to help mentor young women. She said it's been a struggle to get funding.

"Now she has her own funding where she can help these young women at-risk," Arthur said. "She can go and change lives on her own accord."

The winning ticket was purchased at the 7-Eleven on Chambers Street in Trenton, according to New Jersey Lottery officials.

Here is the list of winners and their hometowns:

  • Pearlie Mae Smith (mom),Trenton
  • Valerie Marie Arthur, Trenton
  • Steven Elliot Smith, Trenton
  • Jacqueline Sessoms, Trenton
  • Marsha-Ann Rebecca Smith, Trenton
  • Tracy Angela Smith, Newark
  • Katherine Nicole Nunnally, Newark
  • Rene Bethina Smith, Trenton

There were also two $50,000 prize winners in New Jersey. The retail locations of those two locations also not disclosed yet. They matched four white balls and the Powerball.

There were also at least 383 $100 New Jersey winners who either matched four white balls, or three plus the red Powerball. Overall, 171,570 won something in the Saturday drawing.

"Winning the Powerball jackpot is a life-changing event. Congratulations to the ticketholder(s) and to the retailer who sold it," Carole Hedinger, New Jersey Lottery executive director, said in a release.

The winner and the retailer that sold the $429.6 million winning ticket will be added to the national lottery historical record. This is the seventh largest Powerball jackpot in history, Hedinger said.

Click here to find your nearest New Jersey Powerball retailer

Subscribe