UNM student Michael Bell opens up a newspaper twice a week to check the New Mexico Lottery Powerball numbers for his bosses, Margaret and Turner Branch. However, last Thursday morning, he couldn’t believe what he discovered.
In his hand, Bell held a lottery ticket worth $100,000. He said he ran through the offices of Branch Law Firm until he found the owner of the ticket, Turner Branch. Branch was in a meeting when Bell was granted permission to interrupt and share the good news.
“I had to make sure I was right first,” Bell said. “My eyes started to hurt because they were open so wide from trying to compare the newspaper and the ticket over and over. Finally, I went and found my mom who let me into the meeting that Turner was in. He was so excited that he couldn’t even say anything.”
Out of the $100,000 Powerball prize, Margaret and Turner Branch gave Bell $20,000. After the couple won $100 a few weeks before, they promised Bell 20 percent of the possible $100,000 Powerball ticket.
“They always gave me 20 percent of anything they won,” Bell said. “Turner is a really generous guy and a big supporter of UNM so he always buys the tickets.”
Bell, a graduate of Sandia Preparatory High School, is a sophomore at UNM and moved to Albuquerque from Los Lunas in December. He began studying business during his first year at UNM but is now taking philosophy and history classes to get a feel for a major, he said. In his spare time, Bell plays third division men’s soccer in an Albuquerque city league.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“It’s the lowest soccer division but I have a lot of fun playing and it keeps me busy,” he said.
Bell used to pull weeds and paint walls at the Branch Law Firm when he began working there as a freshman in high school. His mother has worked for the firm for about 12 years. After starting out at the bottom, Bell now runs errands for the law firm.
“I did little things around the place and they paid me for it,” Bell said. “For the past two years I’ve worked inside the office. Now I run errands around town, make copies and help out around the firm.”
After discovering the winning ticket Thursday morning, Margaret Branch and Bell went to claim the prize at the New Mexico Lottery headquarters. They had to complete two hours of paperwork.
“As soon as we got there, they got on their little walkie-talkies and whispered, ‘The $100,000 winners are here,’” Bell said. “Everyone was really excited for us and came out and shook our hands. The paperwork was the only hassle.”
After taxes, Bell took home $13,200. Although he has already spent some of the money, he said he plans to save most of it for college so he doesn’t have to work as much.
“I already bought a stereo and a television,” Bell said. “I finally got my brakes on my car fixed and bought my girlfriend a jacket. Overall, I think this just proves that if you buy tickets, you can definitely win.”
