Two public school teachers and a school administrator who call themselves ``The Three Amigos'' are sharing the spoils of last month's record Mega Millions jackpot, planning trips to Europe, new homes and children's college educations, Maryland state lottery officials said Tuesday.
The Maryland winners claimed their proceeds Monday and chose to remain anonymous, but the lottery agency shared some details in a news conference, including the fact that each of the three friends works multiple jobs to make ends meet.
``If it can't be you, these people are precisely the people you would want to see win,'' Maryland Lottery director Stephen Martino said.
The winning Maryland ticket is one of three nationally that split the $656 million jackpot, the biggest in Mega Millions history. The other winners in the March 30 drawing were picked in Kansas and Illinois. Kansas' winner claimed a share of the jackpot Friday, but also decided to remain anonymous. Nobody has come forward in Illinois, where winners have one year to claim a jackpot and must make at least some details about themselves public, though not necessarily one's name.
One Maryland winner is a special education teacher, one is an elementary school teacher and the third is a school administrator. All three said they plan to continue to work, noting that they were committed to their students, Martino said.
``One said `I can't give up on my kids,'' he said.
The discovery of the real Maryland winners comes after a week of speculation and intense media coverage of a Baltimore woman, Mirlande Wilson, who claimed to hold the winning ticket and then said she had lost it.
The lottery confirmed that Wilson did not win. She and her attorney did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Martino said the three friends watched the news coverage and joked about it, knowing they held the real winner. They bought 60 tickets in three locations as a pool. The winner came from a 7-Eleven convenience store in Milford Mill outside Baltimore. Each will receive a lump sum payment of $35 million after taxes.
One winner, a woman in her 20s, spread the tickets out on her floor to check them immediately after the drawing on March 30. When she realized one ticket was a winner she called her friends, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 50s.
The second woman told lottery officials she had forgotten about the drawing and went to sleep, but was awakened by her phone ringing and ringing. She didn't believe the other winners at first, thinking it was an early April Fool's joke, but they told her they were on their way over, Martino said. They signed copies of the winning ticket and one woman put the winning ticket in a safe at her mother's home. The trio also contacted a financial adviser, who got in touch with lottery officials.
When they went to lottery headquarters on Monday, one woman carried the winning ticket in an envelope in her purse and the other 59 in a separate envelope, Martino said. Officials checked those, but they won just one more dollar.
Martino described the winners as cheerful and humble and a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation. One told officials that she had recently made a quiet prayer for help paying the bills.
``Clearly, this will pay the bills,'' he said.
The trio plan to invest their winnings, but they have a few dreams, too: The man told lottery officials that he planned to help his children with college expenses, pay off his house and buy his sister a house. One woman planned to go backpacking through Europe with her brother and the other woman plans to tour Italy's wine country. (AP)
<관련 한글 기사>
1,200억원 돈벼락 맞은 교직원 3명
미국 사상 최고 당첨금 6억4천만달러(약 7천250억 원)이 걸린 메가밀리언 복권 3장의 주인공 자리 중 한 자리를 공립학교에서 인연을 맺은 3명이 공동으로 차지했다.
미국 메릴랜드 주(州) 복권 당국은 10일(현지시간) 특수교육 교사와 공립 초등학교 교사, 학교 직원 등 3명이 공동으로 행운의 주인공이 되는 기쁨을 누렸다고 밝혔다.
이들은 각각 세후 3천500만달러(약 400억원)의 당첨금을 받게 됐다.
40대 남성과 20대 여성, 50대 여성인 세 사람은 함께 복권을 사서 당첨이 되면 행운을 나누기로 의기투합, 각각 20달러를 내 판매점 3곳에서 1달러짜리 복권 60장을 사서 엄청난 행운을 거머쥐었다.
신원 공개를 거부한 이들은 당첨금을 유럽 여행과 주택 구입, 자녀의 대학 학자 금 등에 사용하겠다고 말했다.
하지만 학생들과 한 약속이 있다며 학교 일은 계속하겠다는 입장이다.
이들 중 한 명은 "나의 아이들을 포기할 수는 없다"는 뜻을 밝혔으며, 또 한 명 은 각종 공과금 등을 낼 돈도 부족해 최근 조용히 기도를 하던 상태였다고 복권 관계자들은 전했다.
지난달 30일 실시된 메가밀리언 당첨자 추첨에서는 메릴랜드와 일리노이, 캔자스 등 3개 주(州)에서 각각 1등 복권이 판매됐다.
캔자스에서는 당첨자라고 나선 사람이 있으나 익명을 유지하기로 했으며, 일리노이에서는 아직 당첨자가 모습을 드러내지 않았다.
메가밀리언 복권은 지난 1월 24일 이후 무려 18차례나 1등 당첨자가 나오지 않아 당첨금이 사상 최고액으로 불어났으며 1등 당첨 확률이 1억7천600만분의 1이었다. (연합뉴스)
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