Last-minute lottery winner claims $46 million

Melvin Milligan and his wife, Kim, are presented with the $46 million ceremonial check Friday during a news conference in Newark, New Jersey

NEWARK, New Jersey -- The winner of a $46 million lottery prize is a 40-year-old computer technician who kept the ticket in a "drawer full of junk" for a year and "forgot about it" until just a few days before the deadline to claim his fortune.

He didn't know the ticket was a Big Game jackpot winner until taking it to a supermarket last week and asking a clerk there to check it for him.

Melvin B. Milligan and his wife, Kim, were presented with a ceremonial check for $46 million at a news conference Friday by Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco and New Jersey Lottery Executive Director Virginia Haines.

Once taking the ticket to a supermarket and having it validated as the winner, Milligan then made another unorthodox decision. He mailed the ticket - via regular mail, not certified mail - to lottery headquarters. It arrived June 12 - three days after the deadline to claim the prize. But lottery officials said the ticket was still valid because it was postmarked before the deadline.

Reporters today asked Kim Milligan her reaction when her husband told her he had mailed the ticket to lottery officials.

"Are you crazy?" was her response.

Melvin Milligan says the ticket was in a "drawer full of junk" for almost a year

This is the largest Big Game jackpot that has been won in New Jersey, according to Annette Jenkins, a lottery spokeswoman. The ticket is worth $23.7 million because Milligan chose a lump-sum payout.

Milligan's plans for the future? "Spend time with my family," said the Passaic, New Jersey, man, and perhaps buy "a nice house."

The ticket was purchased at Krauszer's Convenient Store in Montvale, New Jersey. The winning numbers were 6, 7, 25, 34, 45 and the Big Money Ball number was 2.

The states participating in the Big Game lottery are New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois and Virginia.

CNN's Shannon Troetel contributed to this report.