Pedro Quezada, Powerball winner, owes child support
A freshly printed Powerball ticket is seen at a Citgo gas station near the Illinois border in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
Pedro Quezada, the recent winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot, owes $29,000 in overdue child support payments, the Passaic County, NJ, sheriff's office says.
Quezada, 44, a bodega owner who emigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the late 1980s, has five children ages 5 to 23, the Bergen Record reported. Some of those children live in North Carolina.
Bill Maer, spokesman for the sheriff’s department, told the Bergen Record that the unpaid child support payments go back to 2009.
The sheriff’s department’s warrant squad is attempting to find Quezada and notify him about the overdue payments, CBS News reported.
Neighbors told the Bergen Record that the Quezada family had apparently moved out of their home. Quezada’s grocery store is closed and has a “For Sale” sign on it.
“Like everyone else, until this warrant is satisfied, Mr. Quezada is subject to potential arrest,” Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik said in a statement.
While Quezada has struggled in recent years, paying the money now should not be a hardship. He took the lump sum option which means, after taxes, he’ll receive about $152 million, Reuters reported.
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“Because of Mr. Quezada’s large winnings, generally the New Jersey Division of Lottery would satisfy the judgment before all of the winnings are released,” Berdnik told the Bergen Record.
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