After Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, Nash County has another big winner. Ray Charles Lassiter, a maintenance technician from Nashville, won $250,000 playing numbers based on his and his family members’ ages. Earlier this year, Mega Millions wins of $1 million and $250,000 went to Rocky Mount players who also bought their tickets in Nash County.

Lassiter said he checked the N.C. Education Lottery’s official website before he went to bed early Wednesday morning. Upon learning of his $250,000 win, he woke up his wife to share the good news. Lassiter said he planned to pay off his mortgage with his winnings. He purchased his lucky ticket, worth $170,000 after taxes, at L&L Stores on Eastern Avenue in Nashville.

Besides Lassiter’s $250,000-winning ticket, a Mega Millions ticket worth $10,000 was sold at Wilco #310 on West Market Street in Greensboro. A total of 11,396 winning tickets won $338,479 in the drawing. Players with winning tickets should sign them immediately and have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes.

Because no ticket matched all six numbers, the jackpot for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing is estimated at $86 million if taken as an annuity, or $62.8 million if the lump sum option is chosen.

Since Mega Millions tickets went on sale in North Carolina, wins of $10,000 or more have gone to winners in 51 of the state’s 100 counties. In all, 31 Mega Millions prizes of $250,000 or more have been awarded to winners, including eight $1 million wins and a $12 million jackpot.

Since the lottery began through June 30, 2010, Nash-Rocky Mount players won more than $60 million in prizes and local retailers earned more than $8 million in commissions on ticket sales. During the same time frame, Nash-Rocky Mount education programs received more than $16.5 million in lottery funds. To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2 billion for teacher salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs statewide.