June 18, 2020 - 11:47 AM
GLENDALE, Ariz. - A married couple from a Phoenix suburb has claimed the $410 million Mega Millions jackpot after purchasing a ticket from a convenience store.
The winning ticket was sold May 27 at a Circle K in the city of Glendale and matched all six numbers in the June 9 Mega Millions drawing.
The couple, a 70-year-old man and 63-year-old woman, chose to remain anonymous under state law but told lottery officials they have played the lottery regularly for 38 years, KNXV-TV reported. They chose their own numbers based on family birthdays.
“My birthday is next month, and my left hand had been itching for two weeks, which meant money was coming my way,” the wife said, according to lottery officials. “I also found a shiny new heads-up penny just before I bought our tickets, so I just knew I’d be lucky.”
The Arizona Lottery has said it was the 11th largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and the largest payout in Arizona lottery history.
The pair chose the lump-sum cash option which pays out $319.9 million, KPHO-TV reported. After $76 million is paid in federal taxes and $15.3 million goes to state taxes, the couple will take home $227.8 million.
The couple plans to pay off their mortgage, set aside money to provide for their children and grandchildren, invest, and enjoy the rest, lottery officials said.
“I feel lighter now and it’s incredible to know that there will never be another bill that I can’t pay," the husband said, according to lottery officials.
Circle K will also receive a $50,000 sales incentive from the Arizona Lottery for selling the winning ticket, which it has pledged to donate to United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020