Mega Millions winner bought in Totowa

Wednesday, October 03, 2007 posted 10:56 AM EDT

A couple who have played the lottery twice a week for the last 22 years scooped up the Mega Millions jackpot.

John and Linda Feeney collected their $12 million prize Monday after their quick-pick numbers were selected Sept. 25. The randomly selected numbers were: 2, 19, 23, 47, 54 and 16. The Feeney’s opted for the cash lump sum payout of $7 million.

William Jourdain, the acting director for the New Jersey Lottery, presented an oversized check to the couple Monday afternoon outside Fontanarosa’s Gourmet Specialty Foods on Lincoln Avenue, the deli where they brought their lotto tickets every Monday and Thursday, John Feeney said. Feeney said he even purchased more lotto tickets Monday after he won. “You gotta be in it to win it,” he said.

Feeney, 68, said he wasn’t sure what big ticket item he’d purchase first, but added that he wouldn’t let the windfall go to his head.

“Of course there’s gonna be a little change,” Feeney said Monday. “But I’m still gonna cut the grass. I don’t need a boat. I don’t need a Rolls Royce. I don’t need a new car.”

New Jersey is one of 11 states, along with Washington, D.C., that participate in the Mega Millions lottery, where ticket holders choose six numbers for a chance to win millions.

But this isn't the first time Mega Millions luck has shined on the state. Since 2005, a New Jerseyan has won the top Mega Millions prize six times. Earlier this month, one of the four winning lottery tickets for an estimated $330 million jackpot was sold to a Cape May County couple. In 2005, Helen and Harold Lerner of Rutherford scored a $258 million jackpot, which remains New Jersey's largest lottery payout.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are one in 175 million.

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