"The Fortunate 15" Claim $207 Million Jackpot

Fourteen employees of the City of Piqua, and one relative of a city worker, wasted no time to make their claim on the $207 million Mega Millions jackpot hit Friday, December 12.

The 15 people came to the Dayton regional office of the Ohio Lottery on Wednesday morning to finalize their claim.

The winners chose the cash option. After tax withholdings, 14 winners will each receive a check for approximately $6.3 million.

One winner who bought two shares of the winning ticket, will receive a check for approximately $12.6 million.

After making the claim in the morning, the group participated in a news conference in Piqua on Wednesday afternoon.

Cynthia Hershberger said, "I've always said that I never thought I'd be able to retire, even when I was old enough. So, it's like going through a new thought process."

Winner Jolaine Routson said, "Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would happen to me."

The winners include: Richard Donnelly, Piqua, 58 Jon Dembski, Piqua, 48 Rodney Stephenson, Piqua, 38 Arthur Rudy, Piqua, 38 Kenneth Kirby, Piqua, 31 Cynthia Hershberger, Piqua, 45 Loyal Davis, Jr., Piqua, 41 Jolaine Routson, Piqua, 46 Scott Bradley, Piqua, 44 Amos Steinbrunner, Coldwater, 30 Ritchie Williams, Piqua, 56 Clifford Helman, Bradford, 37 James Montgomery, Piqua, 60 Dennis Steinke, Piqua, 52 Thomas Hill, Jr., Piqua, 72

The group purchased its winning ticket, a $5 wager using the Lottery's auto-pick feature, at a Kroger store in Piqua. Kroger received a $100,000 agent sales bonus for selling the winning ticket.

This is Ohio's third Mega Millions jackpot win of the year and Ohio's third largest Mega Millions jackpot win since joining the game in 2002.