McDonald’s workers in Baltimore are serving Unhappy Meals today after a co-worker, who claims to have won a third of the world record $656 Mega Millions lottery jackpot, says she won’t be sharing.

Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, speaks to reporters outside a Baltimore 7-11 store where Wilson purchased tickets. (AP Photo)
The New York Post reports that Mirlande Wilson, 37, says she has a winning ticket, but that she bought it with her own money, not that of her co-workers, who had pooled their resources in an attempt to win the big Friday prize.
“We had a group plan, but I went and played by myself. [The ‘winning’ ticket] wasn’t on the group plan,” Wilson told the Post.
Winning tickets were sold in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas.
According to the article, Wilson ran the McDonald’s office pool that fateful day, getting $5 from 15 co-workers. She purchased the pool tickets and left them at the restaurant in a safe place, according to the article.
Just before closing shop Friday evening, however, the owner of the fast food restaurant says he gave Wilson another $5. Wilson bought more tickets after leaving work and took them home, but she claims the winning ticket was not purchased with the final $5 contribution.
After Wilson called in to work Saturday to say she’d no longer be peddling fried taters, a couple of co-workers went to her home and beat on the door until she answered.
“These people are going to kill you. It’s not worth your life!” said one after she opened the door.
As of Monday afternoon, no one had claimed the prize, worth an estimated $105 million after taxes.
Wilson may be fibbing. When pressed to produce the winning ticket she told the newspaper “I don’t know if I won. Some of the numbers were familiar. I recognized some of [them].”
The McDonald’s owner declined to comment except to say, “It’s all [BS], if you ask me. It’s speculation.”
113 comments Add your comment
GregSean
April 2nd, 2012
2:46 pm
To each his own. If her winning ticket was not a part of the pool then she should not have to share. I would suggest that she seek legal counsel.
testerbill
April 2nd, 2012
2:49 pm
Enter your comments here
indigo
April 2nd, 2012
2:49 pm
You can understand her situation. A 1/16th share is only $6.56 million. You can’t buy anything for that little money these days. No wonder she wants it all!
charmattack
April 2nd, 2012
2:50 pm
Yeah, everyone in my office pool gets pdf copies emailed to them of the tickets from the office money.
testerbill
April 2nd, 2012
2:50 pm
Some distant relative of wilson’s will show up with the winning ticket so it won’t appear as one of the pool tickets.
Keith
April 2nd, 2012
2:52 pm
Its her word against theirs. If she bought the ticket herself everyone is out of luck. Looks like a good case of he said she said. Hire a good lawyer.
sandee
April 2nd, 2012
2:53 pm
It was an early April Fool’s joke.
Vicki
April 2nd, 2012
2:55 pm
I play in a office pool I scan the tickets to everyone that is in the pool and also have their names on an enveloped dated the day of the drawing. If I want to purchase on my own I should be fine. She is showing signs of being very greedy with that amount she could share a little bit.
sandee
April 2nd, 2012
2:56 pm
Since the winner is not required to identify them self in MD, who would really know if she won if she kept her mouth shut…YEAH, THAT MIGHT HAPPEN.
Uhno
April 2nd, 2012
3:02 pm
Just loose shoes doing what loose shoes do.
I wou