Three weeks after he purchased a single, quick-pick ticket for the Tri-State Megabucks Plus drawing held on August 4, Frank Sullivan of Gilman, VT has stepped forward to say he is the winner.
“There’s no other feeling like this,” said NH Lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre of handing over a check that is life changing. “Frank is such a nice guy. Everyone who knows him says they couldn’t be happier for him.”
Sullivan appeared before the media today during a press conference at Top of the Hill, the Dalton, NH store in which the winning ticket was purchased. Sullivan, who plays the NH Lottery about twice a week, bought only one ticket for the $12.5 million Tri-State Megabucks Plus drawing. But one was all he needed.
“My brother-in-law heard on the news that the winning ticket came from the store. So I pulled my ticket out of my pocket and there it was,” said Sullivan.
Sullivan, 52, is a lifelong resident of Gilman, VT, which is across the river from Dalton, NH. Sullivan has worked for 12 years at Burndy LLC in Littleton, NH and has also made a living as a caretaker for a few farms.
“I’m not the first member of my family to hit Megabucks,” Sullivan said. “My cousin won an $8 million jackpot about 15 years ago and my other cousin was part of a group that hit the Megabucks jackpot for $500,000.”
The $12.5 million annuitized jackpot is the single largest prize to any one player in the 25-year history of Tri-State Megabucks. Instead of annual payments for the next 20 years, Sullivan has instead chosen to receive the payout in a lump sum of $7,878,111. After federal and state taxes are deducted, Sullivan will receive $5,120,772.15.
“Everyone’s really happy for me,” said Sullivan of his winnings. He plans to payoff some bills, move out of his mobile home into a bigger place, and do some travelling. Sullivan also plans to enjoy his hobbies more often, such as fishing, four-wheeling, and snowmobiling.
The winning number combination for the August 4 drawing was 8-9-12-20-35, and the Mega ball was 4. The largest jackpot for Tri-State Megabucks or Megabucks Plus was $16.4 million in January of 1992, but that prize was split between separate winners in Maine and Vermont. New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine rolled out the game when they formed the Tri-State Lottery in 1985, the first multi-state lottery in the country.
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