Retired NY school principal claims $326 Mega Millions prize

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. -- New York lottery officials revealed Tuesday that the state's biggest ever jackpot winner is an 80-year-old retired elementary school principal, who says he "put the ticket in his wallet and forgot about it."

Harold Diamond of Wurtsboro, N.Y. is the sole winner of the $326 million Mega Millions jackpot drawn on Nov. 4, CBS New York reported. He says he is taking the lump sum payment of $197 million before taxes and will collect about $130 million after withholdings.

"I simply can't envision that kind of money," Diamond said. "It's very hard to fathom. We feel very blessed."

Diamond said he and his wife read the number half a dozen times before they believed it.

"I was like in a daze. I was looking at the numbers and I kept calling to Carol upstairs have them read backwards, and she read them backwards, and then forward, and it's just hard to fathom that kind of money," he said.

He said he bought a quick pick ticket and let the machine pick the winning numbers."I went to play golf the next day and the guys in the clubhouse were talking about the jackpot-winning ticket someone bought at a Valero on Route 302 and I thought, wait a minute - I bought a ticket there last night!"

Diamond and his wife will now head to Hawaii to celebrate their 55th anniversary and then try to decide what to do with the money.

The couple, who have two grown children now have full-time security at their home. Diamond retired from being an educator two decades ago, but is still popular among his former students.

"I've known him my whole life. he's a good guy, and he'll do great things with it I believe," neighbor and former student Brendan Moore.

But others believe the winnings could be more of a burden than a blessing. "I'm happy and sad, because it's a hassle, you know what I mean? I feel it's a hassle. It changes your life," said Colleen Davidson.