Maryland Lottery Winners
hree Maryland public school system employees came forward as the winners of the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, lottery officials announced on Tuesday according to FOX News. The revelation of the three official winners puts an end to the Mega Millions mess stirred by Maryland McDonald's employee Mirlande Wilson, who claimed she held one of the golden tickets. Reuters

Mega Millions has become a mega mess with one of the winners adamant she will not share her part of the jackpot prize of $656 million with her co-workers who claimed they pooled money to buy the winning ticket.

The biggest lottery bonanza in US history, Mega Millions, notched up three winners - from Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.

But the Maryland winner, Mirlande Wilson, told the New York Post that she was not going to share the her third - $218m - with her McDonald's co-workers.

The winning numbers for the record-breaking Mega Millions jackpot were: 2, 4, 23, 38 and 46, and the Mega Ball 23.

While Wilson's co-workers at McDonald's said they pooled money to buy the ticket as part of a syndicate, Wilson maintained that the winning ticket was bought only by her.

"We had a group plan but I went and played by myself. The winning ticket wasn't on the group plan," the New York Post has quoted Wilson, a mother of seven, as saying.

"I was in the group, but this was separate. The winning ticket was a separate ticket," the Haitian immigrant added.

"I don't know if I won. Some of the numbers were familiar. I recognised some of them. I don't know why people are saying differently. I'm going to go to the lottery office today. I bought some tickets separately," she continued.

But it will not be easy for Wilson to claim the money if it was established that it was bought with pooled money from her office.

"These people are going to kill you. It's not worth your life!" the New York Post quoted a person identified only as Allen as telling Wilson, after knocking on her door for 20 minutes.

"All right! All right! I'll share, but I can't find the ticket right now," she responded finally, according to Allen, the NY Post reported.

If the claims of Wilson's co-workers turn out to be true, she could be heading for a court settlement of the issue.

A similar incident was reported in November 2009, when a New Jersey man, Americo Lopes hid the winning ticket from his five former colleagues.

Finally he had to share the jackpot prize with the five men following a County jury order.

However, Wilson has not been confirmed as the winner so far by the lottery office. Other winners from Kansas and Illinois also not identified till now.

Also Read: Mega Millions Mania: How to Share Your Prize if You Win $540Mn Jackpot

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