Georgia Couple Win $270 Million Lottery

Sunday, February 24, 2008 posted 11:52 AM EST

All those lottery players holding crumpled, worthless Mega Millions tickets can take some consolation: The couple who won the $270 million jackpot are just too nice to resent.

Robert and Tonya Harris matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball in Friday night's drawing, the only such ticket in the multistate game.

The Georgia Lottery has not yet confirmed a winner because the winning ticket must be presented for verification and the lottery offices are closed until Monday, spokeswoman Tandi Reddick said.

The Harrises held up a pink ticket bearing the winning numbers as they talked to a TV reporter in front of their mobile home Saturday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also had a story on the couple Saturday night.

Robert Harris, wearing a pink shirt and dark sunglasses, said he and his wife don't normally play the lottery. But they made an exception this time. For their numbers, they used the birthdays of their grandchildren.

"They're my life," the 47-year-old iron worker told WSAV-TV of Savannah. "Them grandkids are everything I work for — strive for — to make sure they have a good life. And now they're going to have a good life."

Harris said he planned to take the lump-sum option, which would amount to about $164 million before taxes.

By early Saturday, this town of 584 residents located about 50 miles northwest of Savannah was buzzing. The Georgia Lottery had announced that the winning ticket had been sold at a convenience store called Clyde's.

At that time, no one yet knew it was the Harrises. Store manager Billy Hodges could say only that a middle-aged woman had purchased the ticket for her family Friday.

"It happened to a nice lady; I think this lady really deserves it," Hodges said.

Robert Harris said that at 8:10 a.m. Saturday, one of his daughters called him and said someone in town was holding the winning ticket. The Harrises checked, and one by one the numbers came up right: 7, 12, 13, 19 and 22, plus the Mega Ball of 10.

What are the odds of that? About 1 in 176 million.

Sometime during the family celebration, Robert said he called in to his employer, Quinlain Enterprise, and told them he was retired.

"It really hasn't sunk in, but I know that I won't have to get out there and work," he said.

"As hard as he's been working for 21 years ... if anyone deserves it, he does," his wife said.

When asked how his life would change, Harris told the Journal-Constitution: " I used to live in a trailer. And I used to be an iron worker."

In addition to the grand prize winner, 36 players — including six Californians — matched all five numbers but not the Mega Ball number. They will receive second prizes of $250,000 each.

Another 207 players matched four numbers, plus the Mega Ball number. Those are good for third prizes of $10,000 each.

The jackpot slips back to $12 million for Tuesday's drawing.

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