Group hits $516 million lottery jackpot, largest in state history

A group of five winners from Eastern Pennsylvania will be splitting hundreds of millions of dollars after hitting a nationwide jackpot.

The Pennsylvania Lottery has announced a winning Mega Millions ticket for the May 21 drawing was sold at the 7-11 store on Trenton Road in Levittown, Bucks County. But rather than just one winner, the prize was claimed by a group of five, who jointly created a trust in order to split the winnings.

The jackpot had an annuity value of $516 million, but the winners have opted instead for a lump-sum payment of $348,600,000, which after federal and state tax withholdings amounts to $254,233,980.

The winners have not been identified, but the news release from the Pennsylvania Lottery included a joint statement from the winners’ attorneys, Kurt Panouses, of Florida-based Panouses Law Firm, and Christopher Mahoney, of Pennsylvania-based firm Stuckert & Yates.

“This is life-changing generational money,” the attorneys’ statement read. “The winners live in small communities in Eastern Pennsylvania and desire to keep their lives as normal as possible. Maintaining anonymity is key to ensuring that normalcy.”

The jackpot is the third Mega Millions win in Pennsylvania since the state lottery joined the game in 2010. The prize is the largest awarded thus far in Pennsylvania history, Pennsylvania Lottery executive director Drew Svitko said.

Mega Millions is played in 47 jurisdictions: 45 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.