She's the winner of the largest Mega Millions prize in the state
By Kate Northrop
COTTONWOOD, Calif. — The California Lottery officially announced the winner of the historic $1.27 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the game's largest win in the state.
California Lottery officials held a live press conference in Cottonwood on Monday to reveal the winner of the $1.269 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawn in December 2024.
Someone in the state of California started off 2025 a lottery winner of a billion-dollar jackpot — that winner is Rosemary Casarotti, who declined to take part in the media event in Cottonwood on Monday.
Lottery Deputy Director of Public Affairs and Communications Carolyn Becker said the Lottery purposefully chose to reveal Casarotti's name on St. Patrick's Day, a holiday associated with luck and good fortune.
Although she was not present at the announcement, the owners of Sunshine Food and Gas on Rhonda Road, who sold the winning ticket, were there to express gratitude for the lucky win.
"It is exciting to see how much enthusiasm our customers have for the games they love," Ishar Gill, store owner Jaspall Singh's son, said. "They love the chance to dream big, and this win definitely added to the excitement around here."
He thanked the Lottery for guiding the retailer through the win and extended a warm congratulations to Casarotti, whose life had drastically changed the moment she bought that winning ticket. Ever since the announcement that the store sold the winning ticket, Gill said, they've seen a boost in lottery sales.
"Our customers are the heart of our business, and we are grateful to be part of such an amazing community," Gill concluded. "Again, thank you to the California Lottery and to our wonderful community of customers for making this possible. We are proud to be a part of this historic moment."
Sunshine Food and Gas, also known as Circle K, received a $1 million bonus for selling the billion-dollar ticket, the largest possible commission a retailer can earn from the Lottery.
Becker revealed that Casarotti opted to take the lump-sum cash option of $571.9 million over the full annuitized amount of approximately $1.27 billion.
According to USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis, she'll receive about $360.3 million after all taxes are paid. California has no state tax on lottery prizes, meaning only federal taxes will be imposed on the prize.
The win generated $89.5 million for public education in California, Becker said.
The Mega Millions winning numbers for Friday, Dec. 27, 2024 were 3, 7, 37, 49, and 55, with Mega Ball number 6. The Megaplier was 3.
The next Mega Millions drawing will take place on Tuesday, March 18 at 11:00 p.m. EST for a $301 million jackpot.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 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.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
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Congrats Rosmary, take care of yourself.
Good for Rosemary declining the interview,and having her face out there at least.(For now)
People will keep digging though to try and find your info and post it.
That's the world we live in nowadays,unfortunately.
No privacy whatsoever.
There's probably not much else you can do if you don't live in an anonymous state from claiming the prize other than possibly claiming as an LLC.
She should consult someone on this matter!
Having information about you removed from the Internet might be a good idea before turning in the winning ticket. It'll minimize being exposed to the public. There are services that'll do this for you. Some are free (like Incogni) while others charge a small fee of $25. Usually takes about 90 days to get info removed.
Well at least I know it is not a relative of mine that lives around that area that was the winner
Congrats Rosemary, be safe and have fun, enjoy every minute.
Congratulations to the winner! I hope all will be well with her.
I wonder if there will be more winners before the price change.
Funny, both PB and MM started a new together from there previous jackpot winner..... and yet, PB is 100 million + higher than MM.
How does one analyze this fact?
Is it because of the extra drawing 3 compared to 2 or is it because powerball is powerball .... the original .
Feel free to contribute your thoughts.
ShagE
Well, 3 draws a week for PB opposed to 2 draws a week for MM gives PB more draws to grow.
Those are typically high priced scams and impossible to do. The FTC has scam alerts on these services.
Trusts are not allowed in California to claim prizes so doubtful an LLC would have been acceptable either.
I think for myself if I were to buy one powerball with powerplay for every 300 then one more when it reaches 600 mil than I would be spending 9 dollars for the first 3 draws above 300.
Now MM ..... I need to change the aforementioned formula because one ticket is 5 dollars come ,April..... so when it reaches 300 mil I'll buy one ticket and when it reaches 600 mil I'll buy 2 tkckets = 10 dollars for two draws.
9 dollars for 3 draws
10 dollars for 2 draws
You gotta stick by your formula in order to budget you $$$ wisely.
Come to think of it ...... I may not buy my 1st ,MM until it reaches 400 or 500 I dunno.
ShagE
From 1.27 Billion to 360 million welcome to our tax laws.Congrats on the win
I believe it's more of from $571,900,000 which was the cash option to 360M.
The 571M was the money at hand, the 1.2B was the future value.
As always, choices do have consequences.
I like your plan and idea.
I normally do one ticket per draw for both MM and PB.
I remember last year when we would get the billion dollar draws, I would buy 5 tickets.
I am sticking to one ticket a draw, regardless of the prize value.
For the new MM prize structure, I would be elated to hit 10M on the second prize.
My weekly budget will increase by $4 coz I always add the extra $1 on all my tickets.