A 56-year-old Ira Curry of Stone Moutain, GA will have the best Christmas ever! Curry won half of the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in U.S. history and has taken the cash option, which after taxes, will be about $120 million, Georgia Lottery President Debbie Alford said Wednesday.
Curry came to the lottery office with the winning ticket of hand-picked numbers, a mix of family birthdays and the lucky number 7. She did not appear at the afternoon lottery announcement in Atlanta.
Curry bought the ticket at the end of the day Friday and it was a last-minute decision, Alford said.
Alford gave a few details about Curry, saying she is married and had her daughter check online for the winning numbers after a radio announcer mentioned 7 was the Mega ball number.
Two tickets matched the winning numbers in Tuesday night’s $648 million jackpot. Curry’s half of the cash option comes to $173,819,742.50, before federal taxes (25%) and Georgia taxes (6%), officials said.
It will take one to two weeks before Curry will get her check, Alford said.
