September 05, 2012 -- Thanks to an unplanned purchase of a Mega Millions® ticket with the added Megaplier® feature, Steve McMillen of North Branford doubled his lottery prize and won $20,000 on August 24.  “At the time, I didn’t even know what a Megaplier was,” McMillen told Lottery officials with a laugh.  “When the retailer added the Megaplier to my Mega Millions ‘Quick Pick’ by mistake, I decided to keep the ticket anyway.”

The winning Mega Millions numbers drawn on August 24 were 25 - 34 - 45 - 46 – 49; the Mega Ball number was 34.  McMillen matched four of the first five numbers, plus the Mega Ball.  The “4 + 1” prize level in Mega Millions is worth $10,000, but with the Megaplier, a $1 feature that multiplies the value of prizes won, McMillen automatically multiplied his prize by 2.  

Arriving at lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill Tuesday morning, McMillen accepted a prize check for $13,660 (value after taxes).  The unexpected windfall will go toward his daughter’s education.

There were a total of 4,845 winning tickets sold statewide for the August 24 drawing whose values ranged from $2 to $20,000 each.  McMillen purchased his prize winning ticket from North Branford Getty located at 208 Foxon Road in North Branford.