LANSING, March 13, 2009 – A retired Ford Motor Company employee is $10,000 richer after he played the Lottery’s Mega Millions game. Crayton Carpenter matched four white ball numbers and the gold Mega ball number on February 27 to win the prize.

The Monroe man is a regular Lottery player and was very happy with his win. The avid traveler hid the ticket in a safe prior to cashing it at the Lottery’s Dearborn Heights office. He plans to use the prize money to pay off his wife’s car.

The lucky winning own-pick ticket was purchased at EJ’s Party Store, 15254 S. Dixie Hwy., in Monroe.

Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery game in Michigan, California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Wagers cost $1 each and tickets may be purchased at nearly 11,000 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide.

Over 95 cents of every dollar spent on Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to retailers. In fiscal year 2008, the contribution to schools was $740.7 million. Since its inception in 1972, the Lottery has contributed more than $15 billion to education in Michigan.

For additional information, please visit the Lottery’s Web site at https://www.michiganlottery.com.

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