Sycamore, Ill., resident cleans up and wins $1 million prize

Drawing Date: 8/15/2014

August 26, 2014 - Sometimes, it pays to be clean and neat! Ahmad Qarah was cleaning his desk when he came across a Mega Millions ticket he bought a week and a half ago. The lucky Sycamore, Ill., resident looked up the winning numbers on-line, checked them against his ticket, and realized that he was $1 million richer. The numbers on Qarah’s Quick Pick ticket matched the first five numbers – 16 - 19 - 28 – 29 - 68 - (09) – to win $1million in the Friday, August 15, Mega Millions drawing.  

“My mom always said that I was such a good son, I deserved to win the lottery. But I never thought I actually would!” Qarah, 27, is married with two children. He plans to share the windfall with his parents and buy a new house in Sycamore. “We’ve lived in Sycamore for two years and plan to stay, we really like it here.”

Qarah was in Macomb visiting friends when he stopped at Casey’s General Store, 1002 East Jackson Street, to get gas and a Mega Millions ticket. An occasional lottery player, Qarah said, “I really bought my ticket on a whim. Once in a while I buy a Powerball ticket, but I have only played Mega Millions a few times.” Casey’s received a $10,000 bonus from the Illinois Lottery, 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning ticket.