Central Iowa Man Claims $3 Million Prize
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CLIVE, Iowa — A central Iowa man said he's most excited about one simple thing after winning $3 million: life without a mortgage payment.
Jaime Zavala of Norwalk claimed his Mega Millions® Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's main office in Clive. His ticket matched the first five numbers in the Nov. 11 drawing and missed winning that night's $900 million jackpot by just one number.
A Navy veteran, Zavala bought his winning ticket for the Veterans Day drawing at Kwik Star, 1200 Chatham Ave. in Norwalk.
The winning numbers in the Nov. 11 drawing were 10-13-40-42-46 and Mega Ball 1. Zavala's ticket was just one of three in the country to win a prize of $3 million or more in that drawing. A ticket purchased in New York also won $3 million, while a ticket purchased in Arizona won $5 million.
Kwik Star received a $3,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $3 million-winning ticket.
In addition to paying off his home, Zavala said he plans to invest the bulk of his winnings and upgrade his ride, replacing his current 10-year-old pickup with more than 250,000 miles on it.
Players in the $5 Mega Millions game choose their first five numbers from a pool of 70, and another number — called the Mega Ball — from a separate pool of 24. The game features a built-in multiplier for each play that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times.
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