$1 Million Mega Millions Lottery Prize Awarded To Manassas Man

MANASSAS, VA — A Manassas man is now $1 million richer, the Virginia Lottery announced last week. The man, Malcolm Meredith, won his prize after matching five numbers in a Mega Millions drawing.

At first, Meredith didn't think his ticket was a winner. After a May 20 drawing, he was told his ticket wasn't a winner.

Weeks later, he checked again. Meredith learned his ticket was a winner, but he didn't know how much he'd won. He took the ticket to the Virginia Lottery’s Northern Virginia Customer Service Center in Woodbridge and learned that he won $1 million.

"I was hoping and praying!” Meredith told lottery officials.

Meredith's ticket matched the first five winning numbers from a recent Mega Millions drawing, the Virginia Lottery said.

Meredith bought his winning ticket at the Harris Teeter in Market Circle in Manassas and used the computer's Easy Pick function to randomly select the numbers on his ticket.

The Manassas Harris Teeter store will receive a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Meredith's ticket was one number short of a $131 million jackpot. Still, his winning ticket was the only one in the nation to match the first five numbers in the drawing.

Overall chances of winning any prize from the Mega Millions are 1 in 24. The odds of matching the first five numbers in Mega Millions are 1 in 12,607,306. The chances of winning the jackpot are much lower — about 1 in 302.5 million. For perspective, the odds of being struck by lightning are less than 1 in 1 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, the Virginia Council on Problem Gaming provides resources to help. Their hotline can be reached at 1-888-532-3500.