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Mega Millions Winner Claims $136M Prize

POSTED: Thursday, April 3, 2008
UPDATED: 8:51 am EDT April 4, 2008

David Sneath said he's still in shock over winning a $136 million Mega Millions jackpot this week.

"Fifty-nine million dollars… it's too much," said Sneath. "My mind has not comprehended all that yet. It's still floating out there someplace… it's hard to relate to all this. You're used to making $60,000- $70,000 a year -- now that's chump change."

But that didn't stop him from quitting his job as a warehouse driver, making plans to buy a cottage on Mullett Lake in northern Michigan and maybe a new fishing boat, and considering a return to Eastern Michigan University to finish his degree.

Sneath said first he wants to take care of his eyes – by getting laser eye surgery.

Sneath turned 60 on Tuesday, the day he won the jackpot. Friends and family at first thought it was an April Fools' joke.

"I called my sister; she didn't believe me. I called my daughter; she thought I was nuts," said Sneath, who said he made his first call to his ex-wife, Deborah.

Deborah, to whom he referred to as his "significant ex," attended a Thursday news conference where Sneath was presented with a large replica of a $136 million check. His daughter was there with her daughter, as was his son, who had bought the winning ticket on his father's behalf during a trip to a nearby gas station to get cigarettes.

Sneath plans to take a one-time lump payment worth $84.3 million, or $59 million after taxes. He'll initially get $1 million, which he said he intends to deposit in his credit union. Then a check for the remainder will be sent.

A self-described "character," Sneath generally kicked in $6 a week with four co-workers at a Ford Motor Co. parts warehouse in Brownstown to buy lottery tickets, spending half the money on tickets for Tuesday's draw and half for Friday's.

This time, his son bought him $15 worth of tickets, picking numbers Sneath suggested. The winning combination -- 4, 17, 26, 46 and 56, plus 25 for the Mega Ball -- were numbers Sneath once got as a random pick and continues to play.

But his friends didn't entirely lose out. He plans to give them $1 million each out of his winnings.

Sneath, a native of Melvindale, said he'll probably move out of his three-bedroom, two-bath ranch in Livonia. But he's staying in Michigan.

And none of that prize money will go toward a big, new foreign car.

"I worked for Ford Motor Company," he said. "I won't be buying a foreign product."
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