September 28, 2012

$8 million lottery ticket sold in Maine

By MATT HONGOLTZ-HETLING Morning Sentinel

FAIRFIELD – Someone may be walking around Fairfield with a $2 lottery ticket worth more than $8 million.

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No one has come forward yet to claim the $8,175,000 prize, which state officials say is among the largest ever in the three-state lottery game.

Store employees at the Big Apple convenience store on Route 104 in Fairfield, where the winning Megabucks ticket was sold, speculate the winner is a resident who is not in the habit of checking tickets right away. "A lot of locals don't bother to check until a few days later," Mike MacArthur, a clerk at the store, said.

The ticket bears the numbers 6, 12, 20, 21, 33, accompanied by a Megabucks number of 2.

Lynn Mills, an assistant manager at the store, said that on Wednesday night, a lottery terminal in the store delivered the news. State officials say that the store that sold the ticket gets 1 percent of the winnings, up to $30,000.

The largest jackpot in the history of Tri-State Megabucks Plus, which operates in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, was for $16.4 million and was split between two winners, one a Maine resident, according to Lisa Rodrigue, marketing specialist with the state lottery.

Rodrigue said the Fairfield win is among the top 10.

The state lottery will protect the identity of the winner for five days, starting when the person claims the prize.

While the jackpot winner will be rich, the amount collected will be less than $8 million. If taken as a lump-sum payment, the winner would receive $5.9 million. It would rank as the third-highest Megabucks win ever.

Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be contacted at 861-9287 or at:

mhhetling@centralmaine.com 

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