Update: Quotes and information from store workers where the winning ticket was sold
By Todd Northrop
It appears someone in the Garden State will be having a very happy Easter or Passover, as Friday night's Mega Millions drawing produced a single jackpot-winning ticket sold in New Jersey.
The ticket matched all six numbers drawn — 11, 28, 31, 46, and 59, with Mega Ball number 1. The Megaplier was 3.
The winning ticket was sold at the Riverdale Lukoil South, located at 105 Route 23 in Riverdale.
The winner will receive an estimated $521 million, which is the 4th-largest jackpot in the history of Mega Millions, and the 10th-largest jackpot ever in US lottery history.
Friday's jackpot was the 18th won during the month of March in the game's 16-year history, and comes six years to the day after a then-record $656 million jackpot was won. (See World's biggest lottery jackpot won by three tickets, Lottery Post, Mar. 31, 2012.)
"We are thrilled that the winning ticket was sold in Morris County," said New Jersey Lottery Acting Executive Director John M. White. "I'm happy to congratulate... the retailer that sold this winning ticket."
"We encourage the winner to sign the back of the ticket, make a copy of both sides and put it in a safe place, and contact Lottery Headquarters at 609-599-5875 to arrange to file a claim for this 'MEGA' jackpot prize," White added.
The winner has one year from the date of the drawing to file a claim.
"It's exciting to think that their lives have been changed," said Nancy Levan, a cashier at the Lukoil where the winning ticket was sold, of the winner.
Levan and her manager, Nash Riad, happily spoke to a swarm of reporters in between transactions with customers on a busy afternoon.
They don't know who the winning ticket was sold to. And they aren't sure how much the store looks to gain from selling the winning ticket.
Riad said he received a call from the lottery office in the early morning.
"They check the address and they told me, 'do you know that you are the store who sold the winning ticket for one person? Be ready. All news will be here.'"
Levan said it was exciting to think that she could've been the one that sold the winning ticket.
"We have a lot of blue collar workers that come in in the mornings so we're hoping it was someone that really needed it," she said. "It would be great for them."
Levan said one of her co-workers called her at home to break the news that one of them sold the winning ticket.
"Just knowing that it's one of our customers. That it stayed in New Jersey, stayed local, is an awesome thing," she said.
Levan said the biggest previous winning at the gas station was a $200,000 scratch-off lottery ticket off a $5 purchase in 2015.
In addition to the lucky jackpot winner, 2 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Ohio and 1 from Texas.
Another 59 tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win a $10,000 prize. Of those tickets, 7 were purchased with the Megaplier option, increasing the prize to $30,000, and 6 were sold in California, where the prize was worth $16,280 this drawing.
The Megaplier option is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered with the Megaplier is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
With the jackpot have been won last night, the Mega Millions jackpot resets to its starting value of $40 million for the next drawing on Tuesday.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
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