Meet the Oregon winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball lottery jackpot

The winners of the last month's $1.3 billion Powerball have been revealed.

Cheng "Charlie" Saephan represented a trio of winners Monday afternoon at Oregon Lottery headquarters in Salem, reading a statement and answer questions from the media.

Saephan and his friend Laiza Chao went in together on the winning ticket. Saephan said he is splitting his half with his wife, Duapen Saephan. The Saephans are from Portland, and Chao is from Milwaukie.

They are the first Powerball winners in Oregon since 2018, when a Salem man won $150.4 million .

This jackpot was nearly nine times that, having swelled to record proportions during the more than three months without a Powerball winner.

The $1.326 billion prize was the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot and eighth-largest ever won in the U.S. Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Their winning ticket matched all six numbers plus the Powerball and was the lone winning ticket in the April 6 drawing, purchased at a Plaid Pantry in northeast Portland. The convenience store received a $100,000 bonus selling the winning ticket.

The winners came forward the Monday after the drawing, when the Oregon Lottery announced it was working with the ticket holder, saying the process involved security measures and vetting that would take time before a winner could be announced.

Per state law, players in Oregon with few exceptions cannot remain anonymous. Just a handful of lotteries in the U.S. allow anonymity.

Charlie Saephan and Chao had the choice of a one-time cash payment or 30 annual installments. They chose to take the cash lump sum of $422 million after taxes — 8% state and 24% federal taxes are withheld.

Saephan, 46, said he was born in Laos, moved to Thailand in 1987 and came to the United States in 1994. He graduated from high school in 1996.

When the Powerball prize grew earlier this year, he said he wrote out numbers from the game on a piece of paper and slept with it under his pillow. He told Chaio he was going to buy lottery tickets and asked if she wanted to chip in $100 toward tickets.

He said the winning ticket was a quick pick, however.

“God picked for me. Thank you,” Saephan said.

Chaio, 55, was driving to work when he called to inform her that they had won.

“You don’t have to go to work now,” Saephan told her. “We won the lottery; we won the jackpot.”

“Are you lying?” she asked.

Saephan was the only of the winners to come to the press conference Monday.

“Now I have been blessed with this prize,” he said. “I am going to be able to provide for my family and my health. I prayed for blessing, and my prayers were answered.”

Saephan worked as a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist making aircraft components before going on disability in 2016 after being diagnosed with cancer. Saephan said he is currently on chemotherapy.

Because of his health issues, he decided to take a lump sum. His first big purchase will be his dream home.

“I love Oregon,” he said. “I’ve been here 30 years. I’ll stay in Oregon.”

Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com , and follow her work on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.

Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Meet the Oregon winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball lottery jackpot