New Jersey’s 11 Biggest Mega Millions Winners

Amid the NJ Lottery’s 50th year, stories of several extremely lucky locals.

In the 50 years since the New Jersey Lottery began in 1970, it has heaped more than $42 billion in prizes upon local residents. Below, stories of 11 Garden State winners who have taken home record-setting riches.

$1 million

John Manganiotis, Saddle Brook

Date of draw: 11/4/2014
Winning story: Manganiotis and his son, Johnny, just went to go get a watch fixed when they happened upon Richfield Liquors in Clifton and purchased a few lottery tickets. 

$1 million 

Ramon Rosario, Pleasantville 

Date of draw: 11/27/2015
Winning story: Rosario bought the winning ticket at City $.99 Cents Market in Atlantic City, using numbers from his Quick Draw ticket.

$1 million

Linda Z., Moorestown 

Date of draw: 2/9/2018
Winning story: Linda was encouraged to play after seeing an old friend buy lottery tickets. She decided to join in, buying a ticket from Wegmans on Centerton Road in Burlington County.

$1 million 

Kristopher Chrysanthopoulos, Oceanport 

Date of draw: 5/28/2019
Winning story: Chrysanthopoulos, a student, decided to switch out his usual scratch-off purchases for a Mega Millions ticket. While being lectured about getting a summer job, Chrysanthopoulos decided to check the NJ Lottery app on his phone, and realized that he’d won big.

$1.000001 million

Marianna Lauro, Kenilworth

Date of draw: 1/30/2015
Winning story: Lauro’s strategy of purchasing 20 lottery tickets per week finally paid off with a ticket from Pat’s Corner Cafe & Deli in Kenilworth. 

$4 million 

Joanne R., Bayonne 

Date of draw: 12/1/2017
Winning story: A regular player of Mega Millions, Powerball and Pick-6, Joanne decided to add the Megaplier option to her December 1 drawing. By doing so, she ended up winning $4 million instead of $1 million.

$30 million

Darryl & Judith Smith, Mays Landing 

Date of draw: 5/31/2013
Winning story: While at Vineland Truck Stop in Buena, Darryl purchased a winning ticket—the only one in the nation matching all five numbers and the sixth Mega Ball number. 

$89 million 

Angel Guallpa-Mayancela, Essex County 

Date of draw: 1/25/2013
Winning story: Guallpa-Mayancela always told his wife that she’d someday be married to a millionaire—and winning the $89 million jackpot meant he actually kept his promise. Opting for the cash option, Guallpa-Mayancela took home a total of $65.7 million after purchasing a ticket from Lisa’s Deli in Orange.

$99 million 

Giuseppe Garofalo, Monmouth County 

Date of draw: 5/17/2013
Winning story: At a Tinton Falls Kwik Farms, Garofalo purchased five tickets—one of which contained the winning combination. Garofalo split the $198 million prize with a winner from Virginia, and opted for the cash option of $73 million before federal and state taxes.

$273 million 

Michael J. Weirsky, Alpha 

Date of draw: 3/1/2019
Winning story: After buying his ticket at a local QuickChek, Weirsky almost missed out on his fortune. He left the ticket on the counter after purchasing it, only to return to the QuickChek a day later (before the draw) and find that a good Samaritan had turned it in. The cash option for his $273 million jackpot was $162 million.

$533 million 

Richard Wahl, Vernon 

Date of draw: 3/30/2018
Winning story: After talking to his coworker who was contemplating playing, Wahl decided to try his luck—and then hit big at the largest jackpot in New Jersey history. The ticket was sold at a Lukoil in Riverdale, which received a $30,000 bonus check. The cash option for the $533 million prize was $324.6 million.

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