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Charlotte man snags $1 million Mega Millions prize

$516 million Mega Millions ticket sold in Pennsylvania FILE PHOTO: The winning ticket to the $516 million Mega Millions jackpot was sold in Pennsylvania, lottery officials said on Saturday. (Micah Young, DVM/Getty Images)

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte man became the latest North Carolinian to collect a big Mega Millions prize last Thursday.

Lottery officials said Matthew Simmons purchased his winning ticket for the July 2 drawing from the 7-Eleven on Freedom Drive in Charlotte.

Simmons’ $2 ticket matched the numbers on all five white balls to win the $1 million prize. The odds of matching all five white balls in a drawing are 1 in 12.6 million.

He claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh and took home $707,501 after required federal and state tax withholdings.

No one won Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot. The jackpot stands at $179 million as an annuity or $129.5 million cash for Tuesday’s drawing. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.

Players can buy Mega Millions tickets through Online Play on the lottery’s website, with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App, or at any lottery retail location.

Ticket sales from draw games like Mega Millions make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education.

(WATCH: Pineville woman is second $1M winner in NC’s vaccine lottery)

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