A man who won one of the largest lottery payments in U.S. history has filed a federal lawsuit against the mother of his child in an attempt to keep his identity concealed.
The man won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot earlier this year after purchasing a lottery ticket at a gas station in Lebanon, Maine. He has sued his child's mother in U.S. District Court in Portland with a complaint that she violated a nondisclosure agreement by “directly or indirectly disclosing protected subject matter” about his winnings, court papers state.
The court papers state that the defendant in the case disclosed the information to the winner's father and stepmother. Both the winner and the defendant in the case are identified only by pseudonyms.
Court filings state that the winner lives in Maine and the defendant lives in Massachusetts. The defendant has until Dec. 6 to respond to the lawsuit.
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Records did not list an attorney for the defendant in the case. The winner's attorney, Gregory Brown of Knoxville, Tennessee, told the Portland Press Herald that neither he nor his client would discuss the lawsuit.
The complaint states that the winner and the defendant entered into the nondisclosure agreement shortly after the purchase of the winning ticket. The lawsuit states that the winner is seeking an injunction from a judge and at least $100,000 in damages.
The winner accepted Maine's first ever Mega Millions jackpot win, from Friday, Jan. 13, through a limited liability company called LaKoma Island Investments. While Maine is not one of the states that lets lottery winners stay anonymous, the state lottery confirmed that they will only be identified as the company.
The winner chose the pre-tax cash payment of $723,564,144, rather than the annuity over 30 years.
"The winner is thoughtfully considering the best uses of the life-changing prize," a spokesperson for the unidentified winner said.
The prize was the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history.
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Lebanon borders New Hampshire, near Portsmouth, and has about 6,500 residents.
NBC10 Boston's Asher Klein contributed to this report.
