advertisement

Naperville lottery winner sets record

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the gas station where the winning ticket was sold. The gas station is a Mobil.

A 70-year-old Naperville resident named Jesus Davila Jr. claimed the largest jackpot in Illinois Lottery history — a $265 million prize -- on Tuesday.

As Lottery Director Michael Jones said during a check presentation ceremony Tuesday in Chicago, “anything's possible.”

Davila, a retired driver who also spent 12 years in prison on a drug conviction, was pretty sure he had matched five of six numbers in the Illinois Lottery's Mega Millions game when he watched the televised drawing on the night of Jan. 16.

Then one of his three sons told him he actually matched all six numbers and suddenly he found himself the winner of $265 million. After consulting with financial advisers, he elected to accept a lump sum payout of $126 million.

“I'll be happy to have it,” said Davila, who moved to Naperville from Chicago five years ago and bought the winning ticket in Glendale Heights. A native of Puerto Rico, he moved to the U.S. at age 6. “You can't win if you don't play. I'm just a regular Joe, and I played and I hit it.”

Davila said he plays the lottery every day and plans to continue the habit. He said he made his living driving cars, trucks and buses, but now he has his eyes on another sort of vehicle.

“I would like to buy a big house with a really big lawn and a riding lawn mower,” he said.

Davila also plans to invest, donate to has favorite charities and share the money with family, including his sons, daughter and four grandchildren.

Davila was taken into custody in Cook County in 1994 on charges of manufacturing and delivery of cocaine, said Nicole Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections. He was paroled in 2006.

Davila's spokesman Robert Kolt confirmed the conviction but said troubles with the law are in his client's past. Plus, “anybody can win the lottery.”

“Jesus has served his debt to society. He's never had an issue or problem before or after,” Kolt said. “He's a good man. He's got a good heart.”

Jones said Davila's jackpot is the 14th-largest in U.S. lottery history and tops the previous Illinois record, a $218.6 million ticket sold in downstate Red Bud in March 2012. The Red Bud prize was part of the largest overall Lottery jackpot to date, a $656 million Mega Millions payout that was divided among three winners.

People can play Mega Millions in 44 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Jones said millions bought tickets between Nov. 7, 2014 — when the jackpot Davila eventually won began at $15 million — and Jan. 16, when he bought the winning ticket.

“You have to overcome enormous odds” of 1 in 258,890,850 to win, Jones said.

Davila bought the winning ticket, a $5 Quick Pick that generated the numbers for him, at 6:19 p.m. Jan. 16 at a Bucky's Express convenience shop at a Mobil gas station on Bloomingdale Road in Glendale Heights.

The winning numbers were 26-32-44-45-58 (11).

The gas station received a $500,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Gayle Wojciechowski, director of operations for Bucky's Express, said she got a call Jan. 17 that the Glendale Heights shop had sold a winner.

“It was wonderful,” she said. “We were very, very happy.”

Wojciechowski said she attended Tuesday's ceremony because she was excited to meet Davila, who claimed the largest prize by far from a ticket purchased at any of the 45 Bucky's Express stores in the region.

Employees at the station said Tuesday they weren't allowed by their company to talk to the media.

Instead, they let a large fake check for $270 million hanging above the cash register send the message to customers that they were in a winning store. The Mega Millions jackpot Davila won had been estimated at $270 million, but it came in $5 million lower based on actual ticket sales.

People pumping gas Tuesday at the Glendale Heights station said they were excited to learn the winning ticket was sold there.

“I think that's amazing,” said Georgia Alemis of Palos Heights. “It's fantastic that someone is really going to benefit from it.”

Marcia Rader, who lives in Glendale Heights, said she comes to the gas station all the time but never buys lottery tickets there.

She said news of the big win got her thinking it might be time to buy some tickets.

“Maybe that's what I should do from now on,” Rader said. “But, hey, good luck to him.”

• Daily Herald staff writer Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.

$270 million Mega Millions ticket sold in Glendale Heights

$270 million Mega Millions ticket sold in Illinois

$270 million Jackpot winner has yet to come forward

Winner hasn't claimed $270M Illinois Mega Millions jackpot

A Naperville man won $265 million, but who?

  Jesus Davila Jr. of Naperville is all smiles Tuesday while accepting a $265 million check after winning the largest lottery prize in Illinois history. Davila, 70, will accept a $126 million lump sum payment. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Jesus Davila Jr. of Naperville originally thought he matched just five of the six numbers in the Jan. 16 Mega Millions drawing. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Jesus Davila Jr. displays his winning lottery ticket. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Jesus Davila Jr., 70, of Naperville is all smiles while accepting a $265 million check Tuesday from Illinois Lottery Director Michael Jones. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Gayle Wojciechowski, the director of operations for Bucky's Express in the Chicago area, speaks to the media Tuesday. Her company's Glendale Heights store sold the ticket that turned into the largest jackpot in Illinois Lottery history. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.