Winner of $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot in Maine sues mother of his child to keep identity hidden
A man who won one of the largest lottery payments in U.S. history has filed a federal lawsuit against the mother of his child in an attempt to keep his identity concealed.
The man won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot earlier this year after purchasing a lottery ticket at a gas station in Lebanon, Maine. He has sued his child's mother in U.S. District Court in Portland with a complaint that she violated a nondisclosure agreement by "directly or indirectly disclosing protected subject matter" about his winnings, court papers state.
The court papers state that the defendant in the case disclosed the information to the winner's father and stepmother. Both the winner and the defendant in the case are identified only by pseudonyms.
Court filings state that the winner lives in Maine and the defendant lives in Massachusetts. The defendant has until Dec. 6 to respond to the lawsuit.
Records did not list an attorney for the defendant in the case. The winner's attorney, Gregory Brown of Knoxville, Tennessee, told the Portland Press Herald that neither he nor his client would discuss the lawsuit.
The complaint states that the winner and the defendant entered into the nondisclosure agreement shortly after the purchase of the winning ticket. The lawsuit states that the winner is seeking an injunction from a judge and at least $100,000 in damages.
The plaintiff overcame steep odds, of about 1 in 302.6 million, to take home the grand prize in the Mega Millions lottery last January. His win marked the first time that a ticket purchased in Maine matched all six numbers to earn the jackpot, which was one of the largest in Mega Millions history. The biggest Mega Millions jackpot totaled an estimated $1.537 billion and was won in 2018. The biggest overall U.S. lottery jackpot, which totaled an estimated $2.04 billion, went to a ticket purchased in California in November 2022.
Lottery winners, like the plaintiff, can choose to receive their jackpot prize as an annuity, with annual payments received over a period of 29 years, or as a lump sum paid out immediately. For the $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the cash option was an estimated $724.6 million.
Most U.S. states do not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous when they receive the jackpot, although there are slightly more than a dozen that do allow it, with some imposing restrictions for lottery winnings over a certain amount. Maine does not allow winners to receive their payments anonymously, although the Maine state lottery said after the $1.35 billion jackpot drawing earlier this year that it would permit the winner to be identified only through the limited liability company — LaKoma Island Investments — through which the winning ticket was purchased, the Portland Press Herald reported.