Calif. man to share $648M lottery jackpot (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiK5m9zn8Qbrw3o1Kn9VASQeGp-tORSZZUyuPSqyk2T4RhVidMsCy8BtiQ_NrDOwArLH298fGFuqANXoVjLNTiEsgXmwFHwuSBN76XzoGnGDFNC05IoXfk2_jMxCeRfgEZWMYCeGQV2w/s1600/1388776420000-AP-APTOPIX-Mega-Millions-Jackpot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiK5m9zn8Qbrw3o1Kn9VASQeGp-tORSZZUyuPSqyk2T4RhVidMsCy8BtiQ_NrDOwArLH298fGFuqANXoVjLNTiEsgXmwFHwuSBN76XzoGnGDFNC05IoXfk2_jMxCeRfgEZWMYCeGQV2w/s320/1388776420000-AP-APTOPIX-Mega-Millions-Jackpot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">A California man who didn't realize for more than two weeks that he had a winning Mega Million lottery ticket has come forward to claim half of a $648 million jackpot, the second largest in U.S. history, California Lottery officials said Friday.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The other winner, a Georgia woman who bought her ticket in Atlanta, has already claimed her winnings.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Steve Tran, a frequent lottery player who lives in Northern California, said he had read about the big jackpot drawing on Dec. 17 and knew that "everybody was anxious, looking for the person."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Because he and his family had gone on vacation without checking their tickets, it didn't dawn on Tran until Monday that he might have a winner among the pile he keeps in a drawer.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I woke up in the middle of the night," Tran told the Lottery officials. "I remembered, I think I went to San Jose."</div><div class="story-asset image-asset" id="module-position-M3cxaXf7AFQ" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><aside class="wide single-photo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 60px; margin-top: 25px;"><img alt="Mega Millions Jackpot" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/bc149b4532b91ff374d0a3a6c708d5ef2eb8de05/c=272-0-4782-3390&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2014/01/03//1388777460000-AP-Mega-Millions-Jackpot.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="540" /><div style="color: #646464; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">Customers crowd Jenny's gift shop to purchase lottery tickets Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. Two lucky winning tickets were sold in a $648 million Mega Millions drawing on Dec. 17. The second winner was purchased in Atlanta.<span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: Ben Margot AP)</span></div></aside><div class="clearfix"></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Tran, who drives a delivery truck, said he and his family had visited San Jose because of its large Vietnamese community, where they can also eat and shop, <i>The San Jose Mercury News </i><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24840318/california-lottery-324-million-mega-millions-winn" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24840318/california-lottery-324-million-mega-millions-winn">reports</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He said the winner -- with numbers 8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and a Mega number of 7 -- was among five he bought at Jenny's Gift & Kids Wear in a San Jose strip mall.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">After doublechecking the number on Monday, Tran said, he called his boss and left a message: "I'm really sorry boss. I hit the jackpot. I don't think I'm going to come in today, tomorrow, or ever."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The other winner of the big jackpot was identified as Ira Curry of Georgia. She took a lump sum payout of $123 million after taxes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Thuy Nguyen, owner of the San Jose gift shop, will get $1 million for selling a jackpot winner.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><i>Contributing: The Associated Press</i></div></div>

Calif. man to share $648M lottery jackpot (BLOG)

A California man who didn't realize for more than two weeks that he had a winning Mega Million lottery ticket has come forward to claim ...

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