Domata Peko, former Michigan State Spartan, is involved directly with the gigantic $2 billion Powerball Ticket that was sold this week. Peko’s father-in-law was the man to sell the ticket to the eventual winner and subsequently was rewarded for that. According to a Yahoo Sports report, Peko tweeted congratulations to his father-in-law, Joe Chahayed, on the $1 million reward he received for giving the winning ticket to his customer. Chanayed is the owner of Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, where the lotto ticket was sold.
Luck Strikes Domata Peko’s family
According to the same report, “Anna (Peko’s wife) isn’t Chahayed’s only child. He is reported to have emigrated to Los Angeles from Syria in the 1980s with his wife, two kids, and around $14,000 to his name. He now has five children and ten grandchildren with another one on the way.”
Domata Peko’s father-in-law’s plans for the newfound windfall
Domata Peko was a standout player for Michigan State when he played at the school in 2005. After logging 53 total tackles, one sack, and a phenomenal fumble return in a rivalry game against Michigan, Peko was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Peko would go on to have a very successful and long NFL career primarily with the Bengals from 2006-2016, moving then to the Denver Broncos from 2017-2018 with one-year stops in Baltimore & Arizona to end his NFL journey.
With $1 million now in his pockets, Peko’s father-in-law was able to expand greatly on his own worth. Chahayed also spoke about what he would use the money for.
“Chahayed, 75, said he would spend the $1 million on his family, donate some to the community, and continue working because he loves his job.
‘I raised my kids, graduated from the college and bought a house and I bought a business all because I work hard and become an honest man,’ Chahayed said.”
The Powerball winners and a brief history
The winning ticket of $2.04 billion is the largest amount won by far in Powerball’s history. Whoever was lucky enough to come into that sum of money has a year to claim the ticket, just as three winners did in 2016. That amount, in 2016, was $1.586 billion and was split between them to the tune of $533 million before taxes. According to a CNBC piece on the Powerball,
“The Robinsons’ winning ticket was one of four they bought at a grocery store, they tell NBC’s TODAY show. They opted to take the lump sum. ‘We’re not guaranteed tomorrow,’ says John.
In Florida, Smith and Kaltschmidt also picked the lump sum. At the time they planned to get massages, upgrade their truck and retire with the newfound wealth, according to NBC.
The Acostas remained anonymous for months after winning, but released a statement saying they were thankful for the ‘rare gift that has been placed in our care.'”
We at DSN wanted to give congratulations to the winner of this year’s Powerball and the Peko family. Hopefully, some of our local teams can start getting that same luck and turn this town’s title hopes around.
