Park ranger furloughed in shutdown wins $29.5 million New Jersey jackpot

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — A furloughed park ranger from New Jersey was rewarded with a $29.5 million lottery jackpot for weathering the storm that was the country's longest government shutdown.

Judith Smith, a ranger with the National Park Service at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, New York, and her two children are the winners of the Dec. 17 Pick-6 Jackpot, the largest Pick-6 jackpot in over 10 years, the New Jersey Lottery Commission said in a statement. 

"This dedicated worker was waiting along with her colleagues through days of being furloughed without pay and an uncertain determination about when this furlough might end," the commission said.

A day after the drawing, it was announced that the winning Pick-6 ticket was sold at Eddy’s Wine and Liquors in Bayonne, New Jersey. Smith quickly realized she bought her ticket there, and she sent her son back to Eddy’s and used the self-check machine to scan the ticket to be sure it was the winner, according to the statement. 

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When the ticket was confirmed as a winner, Smith squirreled it away in a safe place, and she started calling lawyers and financial advisers to safely claim the prize. On Jan. 17, the Smiths officially claimed their winnings.

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