RELEASE DATE: 1/17/2015
For the 12th time in Mega Millions history, a jackpot has been won in January, as an estimated $270 million prize ($181 million cash option) was won by a lucky ticket holder in Illinois. The ticket was sold at the Bucky's Express in Glendale Heights, Ill. The winning numbers drawn January 16 were 26, 32, 44, 45 and 58, plus the Mega Ball of 11. Two $1 million second-tier prizes were won in this drawing, one each in Florida and New York.
It is the first jackpot win by an Illinois player since May 4, 2012, and the eighth in that state since Mega Millions officially began in 2002. It is also the second-largest jackpot ever won during the month of January; only a $380 million prize won on January 4, 2011, was higher.
The jackpot is the first to be won in 2015. Nine Mega Millions jackpots were won in 2014, including a $414 million prize shared by winning tickets in Florida and Maryland on March 18. That was the third largest jackpot in Mega Millions history.
The jackpot had been rolling since a New Yorker won $326 million on November 4. Last Monday, the New York Lottery announced the lucky winner of that jackpot, the eighth largest Mega Millions jackpot in history and the most ever won on a single ticket. Claiming the prize was Harold Diamond, an 80-year-old retired school principal from Sullivan County, N.Y.
In total, since November 4, the runup to this $270 million jackpot over 21 drawings has produced more than 37.7 million winning tickets across all prize levels, including the one jackpot winner and 25 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more.
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