Shadow the groundhog congratulates Marie from Frederick on becoming Maryland’s first top-tier Cash4Life winner! |
Excited winner chooses $7 million cash option
A Frederick woman kept to her regular routine last week, not knowing that she was the Maryland Lottery’s first Cash4Life top-tier winner. Marie, who has chosen to keep her last name a secret, purchased the lucky ticket for the May 2 drawing but didn’t check it until later in the week.
“I went back to Weis to scan my ticket when I saw the message that I had to take it Lottery headquarters,” said the 61-year-old. “That’s when I asked for a printout of the winning numbers and quickly left the store to head home.”
When she got home, the Frederick County Public Schools employee told her husband that she had good news and bad news.
“I told him the bad news first — that I found out we had to pay to get his newly-purchased truck inspected,” said Marie, with a grin. “Then I told him the good news…that we can easily afford that and much more!”
After her husband double checked the ticket and confirmed the win, they made the decision to wait to tell their two daughters and their families the news until Mother’s Day.
“It was a beautiful day and we were all sitting outside,” said the grandmother of five. “My husband and I told our daughters that we were the new Cash4Life millionaires. One of my daughters was so happy that she started crying.”
The avid Lottery player matched all five Cash4Life numbers plus the Cash Ball. When claiming the prize, she had the option of taking the annuity, which is $1,000 a day for life or the one-time cash option of $7 million. After discussing it with her family, Marie chose the cash option. After taxes, she will net approximately $4.2 million. Described by her daughter as very humble, the lucky winner has no plans for her windfall besides sharing with family.
Although she has decided to remain anonymous, the winner said, “I wanted to go outside and scream, ‘I won, I won!’ for everyone to hear.”
The player bought the winning ticket from Weis Market #100 located at 2 Old Camps Road in Frederick. For selling the winning ticket, Weis will receive a $7,500 bonus.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming began offering the Cash4Life game in January, joining the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee. Since the game began in June 2014, Cash4Life has had 15 top-prize winners and 22 second-tier winners. The second-tier prize offers players the option of $1,000 a week for life, paid in annual installments of $52,000, or a one-time payment of $1 million. Drawings take place Mondays and Thursdays at 9 p.m. and can be viewed live on mdlottery.com.