WEST ALLIS, Wis. — A 24-year-old West Allis man just claimed one of the largest lottery jackpots ever. Manuel Franco took home $326 million after winning the Powerball back in March.
"It's amazing," said Franco. "It feels like a dream. It feels like honestly any moment I'm gonna wake up."
He used $10 to purchase his tickets. Now, he is in uncharted territory.
"Trying to get the bank account to $1,000 was my biggest concern," he said.
The lottery winner talked about his parents and his girlfriend but not much else.
"My dad cried a lot," he said. "My mom, she thought I was in trouble and she's like, 'you need to tell me the truth.'"
Franco's attorney, Andrew Stoltmann, the self-proclaimed 'lottery winner's lawyer' said his advice is to disappear from the public and social media.
"He has good common sense," said Stoltmann. "That was my strongest advice possible."
The biggest reason for hiding according to Stoltmann is because lottery winners have less than a 50-50 chance of actually keeping their money.
"Seventy percent of all lottery winners end up broke within five years of winning the lottery," said Stoltmann.
Franco said he he plans to help his parents, and help some of his family finish their education.
"I really just wanted to travel the world and stuff like that," he said. "I'm not a big guy that's going to go buy fancy stuff like, well of course I might go buy fancy stuff, but nothing too big."
