Three public school employees nab share of record jackpot
Includes video report
By Todd Northrop
The Maryland Mega Millions lottery winners are three Maryland public school employees, who split the world's biggest lottery jackpot with two other winners from Kansas and Illinois.
The trio claimed their share of the jackpot Monday at Maryland Lottery headquarters.
Maryland laws allow lottery winners to remain anonymous when collecting their prize, and the winners chose that option in this case.
Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino said the employees will each receive $34.997 million after taxes. They had purchased a total of 60 tickets at three different locations throughout the state, or a total investment of $20 per person.
"It is the first time that the three friends have pooled their money together," Martino said.
The three winners are a woman in her 20s, another in her 50s, and a man in his 40s. One employee is an elementary school teacher, another is a special education instructor and the third works in an administrative role. Two have other part-time jobs.
The youngest of the group held onto the tickets and checked them immediately following the drawing. "I had all 60 tickets spread across my floor," she said. "Once I realized one was a winner, I called my two friends right away."
"That evening, I forgot about the drawing and went to sleep," said one winner. "It was around 11:30 p.m., and my phone just kept ringing and ringing. I finally decided to answer it, thinking something was wrong." Once she picked up, the two other winners were on the phone and said, "Get dressed. We're coming over right now."
After discussing the win, the threesome came up with a plan. "We made copies of the ticket, and we each signed the copies," said one of the women. "At 1 a.m., I took the ticket and drove to my mother's house to put it in her safe. I didn't even take time to pack any clothes — I just drove."
When the group arrived at lottery headquarters Monday, Martino said one of the winners took a small white envelope of out of her purse that contained the winning Mega Millions ticket. The winners had made three copies of the ticket and each signed the copies, he said.
The actual ticket wasn't signed by all three winners until Monday at the lottery's conference room table, Martino said. The ticket was then handed over to lottery security and its authenticity was verified, he said.
The winners' future plans all include new homes. One also plans to take a backpacking trip through Europe, while another will pay for his daughter's college education, Martino said. A third winner will tour Italy's wine country, he said.
"Most importantly," one winner said, "we're going to be careful with how the money is spent. I watched coverage of the jackpot win on television all week, just so I could listen to the financial advice the professionals were offering."
All three have indicated they intend to remain employees within Maryland's public school system.
"They were modest, and humbled," said Martino. "These are precisely the people you would want to see win the lottery."
A total of three winning tickets were sold across the country for the $656 million March 30 Mega Millions drawing matching the winning numbers 2, 4, 23, 38, and 46, with Mega Ball number 23.
Speculation about a Maryland ticket reached fever pitch last week when a Maryland woman, Mirlande Wilson, 37, said she had the ticket, then alternately claimed she had lost it and had hidden it inside the McDonald's restaurant where she works. Her attorney, who admitted he couldn't back up her story, said she wanted to be left alone.
As many suspected, the story was a hoax. Lord knows why people do these things, but the woman fabricated the whole thing.
The anonymous winners bought the winning ticket at a 7-Eleven store in Milford Mill outside Baltimore. The retailer will receive a $100,000 agent bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Lottery officials increased the final jackpot to $656 million after tallying sales from the 44 lotteries that offer Mega Millions. The jackpot was the biggest in Mega Millions history and the three winners — one in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas — will each get more than $218 million before taxes.
Kansas' winner also decided to remain anonymous. (See Kansas Mega Millions winner claims jackpot anonymously, Lottery Post, Apr. 6, 2012.)
The Illinois winner has yet to come forward to claim the prize.
RAW VIDEO: Watch the Maryland Lottery press conference
Congrats "real" winners!!!
Just as I thought.
More than likely what happened to Mirlande Wilson was that she thought she won without checking her numbers, preached it to the world, found out she didn't win, and had to claim she lost the ticket to hide the humiliation.
Obviously a first time lottery player.
One of the pool members had laid out all sixty tickets on the floor as live TV results came in, and was totally shocked to see that one ticket
had all the numbers. When one member was contacted at 1:00AM in the morning, they thought an early April fools joke was being played.!!!
They did everything "right", and this was the first time they had ever formed a pool together. Talk about beginners luck!
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!!!
Glad that the money is going to some relatively drama free claimants...
Let the good times roll!
Finally, this story has a happy ending! This is great to hear.
Congrats to the winners!
They seen like nice people!
We finally know where the "McDonalds" lady lost her ticket ......... it fell onto one of the 3 amigos kitchen table somehow!
The next jackpot stop is the 'dale in PA! I am not allowed to claim via blind trust in PA, so I will form a RLT after I claim the money so that the name of the trust is not in the media!
1
I've updated the story significantly with additional information and quotes from the winners.
Thanks Todd!
well i'm be,teachers winning the lottery. good for them! now they can retire and live the good life with 34 million dollars, will go a long way. congrats to them,spend it wisely. wish i could have had won a piece of it,but my tickets did'nt have any numbers matching....O well maybe next time......
Congrats to the teachers and their respective families. I truly hope their lives are comfortably lived and all their travel plans are enjoyed. Pretty smart to remain anonymous, although there is enough information in the above to have more inquiries by various persons............................ Thanks for the great story Todd.....
They all said that they are going to keep their jobs.Yeah,right!Maybe until the end of the school year.
That would be tough to keep your job for another couple of months with 35 million sitting in your bank account. I honestly would have to do some deep soul searching on that one. But going to work with that kind of money ?? I am quit sure I could put a smile on my face and be tolerant of any group of kids for another 8 weeks.
Truly, congrats to them! They did everything correct - copying the ticket, signing the back, going anonymous.
Ironically, I almost bought tickets with 2 other friends - one of us is in our 20's, one is in our 30's, and the other is in their 40's - just like them! And we all have other jobs, in addition to the one we all work at. However, I was worried about buying us all tickets, while buying my own too. I didn't want what happened at McDonald's to happen to us. So I didn't approach them for us to all go in together. Hmmm.... maybe if I had.....
I agree with you. A school system is the worse place to try to keep a secret. I bet the kids already know who won and where they live.
If they were to suddenly quit it wouldn't be very hard to figure out why.It would be impossible to remain anonymous under the circumstances.Besides that,teachers are under contract for the entire school year.
Congrats to the winners! Sometimes a pool works out!
Love those matching outfits, Congrats to the real winners.
Yay! Now let's leave them the #$%^ alone!
They may have picked up their winnings anonymously, but there are several people that know they won. As time goes by even more people will figure it out, but it will be nothing like had they not collected the winnings anonymously.
Had Wilson actually had the winning ticket, we could have months to discuss all that drama.
Congrats to the Maryland winners, may all their dreams come true!!
Congrats to the actual Winners Well Done
Hopefully a "last time" one as well.
Good thing they at least shared some background information about themselves. This will allow those McDonalds employees who were a part of Mirlande Wilson's pool to just go about their business making happy meals. Lesson learned from this fiasco even though the real winners had formed an ad hoc lottery pool that could have resulted in similar drama had the lady with the tickets had been unscrupulous is to either never join a lottery pool or treat entering into one the same way you would buying a house...by making sure all participation rules and protocol are established before any drawing. If this lady was like that NJ guy who recently lost his court case and now has to share that win, we would be witnessing yet another story that could aptly be titled, "When Playing Lottery Pools Go Wrong".
Well, we can all forget about Mirlande Wilson now. I am sure her fellow McDonalds co-workers will NOT be including her in future lottery pools...but then again, lottery pools and fools go together it seems.
I bet alot of the employees said no to a 20$ pool, and must be extremely upset right now. They should retire and give someone else a job.
Congratulations to the winners. The REAL winners!!!! What I like the winners are all different ages. In a few weeks they can quit their extra jobs and only work the 1 job if they want to keep working.
Stupendous
Smart group of teachers making their copies and securing the ticket in a safe. Kind of interesting they claimed so quickly. Hope they had enough time to consult with the right professionals.......Course, I guess they have time after the school year gets out..... If only I or any of the L.P contributors had that issue to confront
Congrats to the Winners......
Thanks Todd you the MAN!!!!!!
Congratulations to the winners. What a happy story!
Congrats to The Three Amigos!
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't giddy that they won!
Advice to Ms. Wilson, now would be a good time to keep your mouth shut, move to another city and slip into obscurity.
Honestly, I will be glad when all the Mega Millions hype is over with! oh and Congrats Again!
s the 3 amigos .............
may you enjoy your
Good luck to the lucky trio!!
Looks like everybody has been duped. Mirlande Wilson obviously paid these 3 people off to come up with this "story". She's a clever one that Mirlande. She's probably sitting back right now wolfing down a couple of Big Macs while laughing at her poor unsuspecting McDonalds coworkers. Anyways, congrats to the three "winners" and Ms. Wilson.
Congrats to "The Three Amigos".What doesn't make sense to me,why didn't they make copies of the lottery tickets before the Mega Millions game not after ?. It's like the two who did not hold that winning ticket,did not trust the one who was holding that winning lottery ticket !.That's why the two other winners came over at 11:30 p.m. ."We're coming over right now." Wow. Lol.
And sometimes you workout in a pool ...............
Surprised that no one else finds it odd that the record jackpot was claimed by all anonymous people. Smells like a scam to me. Especially since 3 people won. I could understand one person wanting to be anonymous but not 3 people. The integrity of the lottery just went down yet again and that will cost them money. Congrats to the lottery headquarters for another fine cover up!
i know why bother posing with the check if youre going to hide behind it like a mugger in gloves.
The way the story reads, the person holding the tickets called the other two.
Procedure wise, people doing their first pool haven't had enough experience to come up with all sorts of rules & regs.
T*T............Looks like they had the honesty & personal integrity to trust each other and their word meant something ... While the rest of us have learned to look down the side of caution when it comes to pools because of the stories we share and have seen or been a part of. Glad to see morals prevailed over personal greed/mistrust..... .Kudos to the 3T's in MD.
,
Congrats to the real winners. I am so glad that this story had a happy ending afterall!
Congratulations to this jackpot winner in Maryland taking the lump sum payment. I didn't throw three people decided to split this jackpot together.
No, dk1421, these ticket owners NEVER signed the back of the ticket before submitting to the Maryland Lottery Headquarters (so that they could create and then claim in the name of either the trust or corporation that is written on the check in the picture)! Also, their ages weren't the same as your group.
Yeah. I should have said "haven't had enough bad experience ... "
Ya gotta admit some of the procedures people use are at a level that would make police agencies take notes; multiple copies, signatures, double counting... everything but two-keys-required and the Cone of Silence.
Is one of these 3 Maryland jackpot win claimants a friend/acquaintance of Mirlande Wilson?
please add .......Including blood/urine samples,signatures in front of a notary, SSN, release of liability waiver, promise of first born or unlimited access to 401K
Yea, just like if you claim via a trust... people will know. It's just that the entire country plus others that pick the story up won't know, well unless they really care about finding out the winner. I know if I win it will be claimed through a trust and I'm sure people will find out but I'll be fine with only a decently sized amount of people knowing.
Anyways though... love that picture... behind the check AND wearing long sleeves plus gloves. Congrats to them.
sounds like something i'd say. suprised all the protectors of peoples anoniminity aren't bashing you yet. the names of this trio will be found out and revealed. they only went halfway with their anonymous claim. if you're going to do it that way and yes they have the right to then do it right. wonder how 3 layed off teachers in their school system feel about them keeping their jobs. want to bet they aren't all that thrilled for them.
Well I think they had to disclose some general information about them or their money would have been tied up in a lawsuit with the McDonald workers. This was an unusual situation due to our "friend" with the pink swine hat so some creative modifications had to be made. If they were 100% anonymous, people would think the McDonalds woman won it and too many problems would have continued. And it is not the same thing as having your name visible to every stranger. While people in house may have a guess as to whom it is, no one can say for sure and they have some level of privacy. And in terms of saying people will know if they leave their jobs, people leave jobs all the time. The public school system has a lot of employees.
If I were them and someone called me to ask for money, I would plead ignorance and ask where they got my name and why they thought I won the lottery (there is no public record). They would not have an answer so I would say Bye Bye.
I am happy for them and it sounds like they have above average common sense by trying to call a financial advisor at 3 AM.
"I didn't throw three people..."
OK, how many did you throw?
And why?
I Think he's in training for the next Olympic's javelin throwing event. People make nice substitutes in a pinch.
A big THANK YOU to the Maryland Lottery for helping us to get a video recording of the entire press conference.
I have added the video to the news story, so you can now watch the entire press conference, including opening statement and Q&A.
Personally, I always enjoy hearing/watching the raw footage, because news stories always leave certain interesting tidbits out.
What a treat, thanks Todd!
They bought 60 dollars worth of tickets at three different locations and won. If I bought that many tickets at that many locations I would still lose. Wilson reminds me of that lady who did the same thing years ago. Both her and the true winner bought a ticket at the same location and she claimed she lose the ticket, so they looked all over the ticket. It was then reveled that she never had the winning ticket. I'm sure we all want to win the lottery, but I would never lie about it. It is what it is. I didn't win and there's nothing I can do about it. The Illinois winner does not have the option those other winners have.
If I would have won, the first thing I would have bought was enough cigarettes to last the rest of my life!
10 Tractor Trailer loads should about do it. You could smoke 24/7 and have plenty of packs remaining for all your smokin buds!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98958txVSrE Too funny
won't they get stale ?
I want you all to know I have already won the next megamillions and am hiding my ticket now. It is in the glass case under the US Constitution at the National Archives (in Washington, DC) since no one will think to look there...but I may move it.
I will be wearing a raspberry beret that says "anonymous megamillions winner."
That still can't hold a candle to Ms. Wilson, she set the bar far to low for anyone to reach.
a$$ing my laugh off ................
Nah, the best (or worst) was some years ago, when an LP member claimed to have won a JP (before the real winners showed up). That thread was a riot.
I don't smoke, but I do chew a lot of gum. I would be cases and cases of gum!
i just wonder how many people ms wilson borrowed money from until she got her big check from the lottery it could be in the thousands i wouldnt doubt her doing that one bit just look at how she was tryin to pull one over on her coworkers but this is just my opinion
Thanks Todd......
How did you figure out the LP member wasn't the real winner? The real winners showed on here? Was it a different town or state?
Seriously? lol Maybe the person was kidding?
I would buy lots of fancy coffee drinks and bubble gum (double bubble is the best). A frappucino a day!
I think Ms. Wilson will continue to inspire many of us for years to come. She was a once in a lifetime gift to all of humanity.
So true. Everyone I know who plays the lottery has said to me (at least once) they have the winning ticket and hid it. This will be a reference people will be looking up 50 years from now and wondering "what are the origins of that joke?"
It will be like the origins of "that's my story and I am sticking to it." A very interesting story as well.
Perhaps Artist, we should look into taking up a collection online from our valued LP members, towards erecting a statue in Ms. Wilson's honor?
I truly believe it would be fitting and proper, to dedicate this statue somewhere in NJ, which represents the birthplace of LP.
I would be willing to start the ball rolling by donating $10 to begin the construction immediately!
lol That is an art commission that I would take a pass on, regardless of the money involved. But she wins my vote as most unusual character of the past year (she beats Charlie Sheen by a mile). I think she will get a reality show like you said. She is too entertaining.
Could you possibly picture both Sheen and Wilson as a duet? I would pay to see that on the Silver Screen! + =
Just watched the video, 60 single tickets WOW!!!!!! I would have been up all NIGHT counting all those tickets... The funny part to was when they checked the other 59 tickerts and they only won $1.00 LOL I didn't know you could win $1.00 on the Mega.
Again congrats to the Three Amigos
Yeah, how do you win just $1? Would that be a Mega Ball ($2), Don't know of any other combination of balls that would yield just $1???
Someone on this forum must know, we shall find out the answer soon!
The LP member was a young guy, the real winners were some old ladies.
The smallest prize is $2, I think he just misspoke. Given the daftness of some of the questions the press asked him, it was easy enough to do. They were trying their best to get enough pieces to go find out who these winners are. Your privacy/safety mean nothing to the media; you're just fuel for another story.
Congrats to the "MARYLAND WINNERS" GO MARYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My only concern is they are talking about not leaving their job. Nice try, but you will after people find out you are one of the winners.
According to the article, they actually made 3 copies of the winning ticket prior to signing those photocopies and not the original ticket. They signed the original ticket once they arrived at Lottery headquarters.
It's a good thing Maryland allows winners to claim anonymously
Congrats to the winners!
Strange how an almost $700 million jackpot is reduced to $35 million with multiple winners. Makes it a lot harder to track down all the alleged anonymous winners, which is exactly what the lottery wants. They look like idiots hiding behind that check. Probably lottery officials that is why. Unless I see proof I don't believe there were any real winners. Anyone who spent money should feel ripped off.
The math is pretty simple. 3rd grade math.
Why should they feel more ripped off than in any other drawing they didn't win?
I am not talking about the actual math of the splits, apparently you are not intelligent enough to see what I am actually saying.
They should feel ripped off for any jackpot game that they did not win, especially one where no real winners are seen. But people are gullible these days and believe anything they read, and assume that the lottery is all legit. Some however need more proof than hearsay.
Oh my. Too funny. You need to remove the "Sir" part from your name. Or maybe change it to Sirbrat.
Why because you are gullible and lack common sense? Oh wait you are also new here that explains it. Seems to be the only ones who have a problem with the facts that I post. Too bad, reality is not always as pretty as your fantasies get used to it.
Yeah...I've been wondering about that $1.00 win myself...
Strange things happen with people's money in Maryland...
Sirbrat: You are the reason people choose to remain anonymous if they win the lottery. You have some serious anger issues and, by the way, I bet I make more money than you do also (and have more degrees). I would guess that you perhaps have a year of college, then dropped out, are on your second or third divorce by now, resent the "suits" , think you are going to write the great american novel someday, and wonder why the young women find you dull. And yes, I am another woman who finds you dull.
I am glad that Maryland allows that option and that they chose to use it. It was a very wise decision.
Todd - thank you for adding the video. We just finished watching it. What was not said was just as interesting as what was.
Hahaha!! You are actually wrong all ALL of those accounts, but you are not worth explaining anything to. Like I said to another one of the stooges, don't quote and call me out if you don't want to be put in your place. But feel free to keep making yourself look even more stupid. Go back to the kitchen, you are the dull one.
sirbrad, is "the kitchen" a dull place, generally?
Should people strive to not enter kitchens?
No the kitchen is not necessarily dull, but since "she" decided to get sexist I just thought I would return the favor and attack again, and with the same bitter medicine she uses.
Typo fixed: I don't smoke, but I do chew a lot of gum. I would buy cases and cases of gum!
Okay. lol
Like Chief said to McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: "Ah, Juicyfruit."
I don't chew JF anymore. It started making my stomach ache. lol
They chose to be anonymous so they can live the same life they lived before only with more money and freedom. Geez.
Some folks will NEVER get it,Simba774.