News : County residents, Vinton man among 'Shipping 20' Powerball jackpot winners

DES MOINES - After receiving word that they would not seek court action to keep their identities confidential, the Iowa Lottery released the names of the Cedar Rapids co-workers who won Iowa's biggest lottery prize.

"It is our understanding that The Shipping 20 Trust has not filed a petition for an injunction," Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said Friday 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
John Wharton of Keystone.

The group of co-workers from the Quaker Oats Co. plant in downtown Cedar Rapids had become Iowa's biggest lottery winners when they claimed the $241 million Powerball® jackpot from the June 13 drawing. The group formed a trust to claim the prize on June 20. Legal counsel for the trust notified the lottery as the group claimed its prize that the members of The Shipping 20 wanted their individual names to remain confidential and that they intended to request an injunction to that effect, which is allowed under Iowa Code Chapter 22, Iowa's Open Records law.

Understanding the specifics of the law, the lottery agreed to give the group 10 business days (until Friday) to seek an injunction.

Rich noted that the group had followed the long-standing suggestion from the lottery that winners of major prizes seek legal and/or financial help before coming forward to claim the money.

"We always want our winners' experiences to be fun - something they'll remember with a smile," Rich said. "While there has been media coverage of some of our biggest prize winners, past winners have told us that it's just been for a brief period and we at the lottery have helped answer reporters' questions. It does appear that media coverage in this instance was extended by the possibility of a court filing and the events that followed. We wish the members of The Shipping 20 the very best and hope that their winnings will make a positive difference in their lives."

The group chose to receive the jackpot as the lump-sum option of $160.3 million. Members of The Shipping 20 said they have played Powerball together for years, with each person chipping in $5 for tickets, but only when the jackpot was $100 million or higher. Each member of the group received about $8 million ($5.6 million after withholding taxes).

The group's winning ticket is the seventh overall in Iowa to take home a Powerball jackpot.

All members of the group were long-time employees of the Quaker Oats plant at the time they claimed the prize. On the job, they shipped out boxes of Quaker Oats cereal from the plant. At least 11 members of the group said they would retire after winning the prize.

Allen Miller of Shellsburg bought the group's tickets for the June 13 drawing at Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids, as he was on his way to work. One of those tickets beat the odds to win the jackpot.

The winning numbers in that night's Powerball drawing were: 7-10-14-33-57 and Powerball 18. The Shipping 20's ticket matched all