“Leftover” ticket purchase wins $169 million

Drawing Date: 1/8/2016

June 30, 2016 - Nancy Viola, a homemaker from Staten Island, has come forward to claim the $169 million sole jackpot-winning ticket from the January 8, 2016, Mega Millions drawing.

Viola, like many New York Lottery players, was caught up in Powerball fever in January 2016 as the jackpot approached $1 billion dollars. On January 8, the day of the Mega Millions drawing, Viola called her husband and asked him to purchase a few Powerball tickets because the jackpot for the next drawing was $900 million at the time. On his way home, her husband stopped at the 2520 Foodmart on Victory Boulevard in Staten Island to buy the Powerball tickets. Because he had a dollar left over, he decided to buy a Quick Pick ticket for that evening’s Mega Millions drawing as well.

The next day, Viola checked the Mega Millions ticket online. “The first thing I did was look at the Mega Ball, and the numbers matched up. Then I looked at the rest of the numbers, and they matched up too. I think I almost had a heart attack,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing, so I asked my husband to come over to look. He just kept looking at the screen three or four times, and he was in shock too.”

Viola came to the Lottery’s Beaver Street Customer Service Center March 10 to claim her jackpot prize.

Following the drawing, Viola created a limited liability company, The Orbity Fund LLC. On behalf of The Orbity Fund LLC, she has chosen to receive her Mega Millions prize as a one-time lump sum payment totaling $64,796,160 after required withholdings.

When asked to describe how it feels to be a new Lottery multi-millionaire Viola said, “There are no words to describe it. I still can't believe it. It’s surreal, but exciting and wonderful at the same time. I’ve thought about my plans, and I want to make some investments and just be secure for the future.”