Rod Boshart, CR GAZETTE –
Iowa Lottery officials have released the names of the 20 Quaker Oats plant workers in Cedar Rapids who recently claimed a share of a $241 million Powerball jackpot.
Lottery CEO Terry Rich issued a statement Friday identifying the 18 men and two women who claimed a $5.6 million share of the prize money last month under the legal umbrella of The Shipping 20 trust.
Lawyers for the trust told Lottery officials June 19 that the members of The Shipping 20 wanted their names to remain confidential to protect their privacy and intended to request a court injunction to that effect. Lottery officials gave the trust 10 business days to seek an injunction to block release of the winners’ full names, but Rich said the deadline lapsed Thursday without any legal action being brought, so the identities automatically became public.
“It is our understanding that The Shipping 20 Trust has not filed a petition for an injunction,” Rich said as the lottery released the list. “Historically, the lottery has treated the names of its prize winners as public information and we are doing so in this instance as well.”
The names and cities of residence of the 18 men and two women who are members of The Shipping 20 are:
From Cedar Rapids:
Tommy Campbell Sr., William Carnahan, Mike Hughes, Denise Hunt, Terry Koopman, David Morgan, Charles Shedek, Gregory Stearns and Rodney Tierney.
From Marion:
Timothy Himmelsbach and Kelly Mulford.
From other eastern Iowa communities:
Daniel Cantonwine of Vinton; Kenneth Cole of Fairfax; Robert Havlik of Toddville; Carol Kremer of Central City; Allen Miller of Shellsburg; Larry Nielsen of Walker; Brent Novak of Shellsburg; Jason Rauch of Ryan; and John Wharton of Keystone.
The union workers in the Quaker plant’s shipping department each received about $5.6 million after they turned in a Powerball ticket June 20 that matched the winning numbers for the largest jackpot prize ever won in Iowa since the state lottery started in 1985.
The Shipping 20 group, ranging in age from 35 to 64 and living in and around Cedar Rapids, chose to receive the jackpot as the lump-sum option of $160.3 million — $112 million after federal and state taxes were deducted. At least 11 of the winners indicated they would retire from their jobs now that they have become instant multimillionaires.
Requests for release of the names were made by at least two newspapers under the state’s open records law.
