As the N.C. Education Lottery set new records for sales and contributions to education in fiscal year 2012, it also saw 33 people win prizes of $1 million or more playing lottery games.

The biggest winner was the James Jones family of Greenville whose share of a Mega Millions jackpot was $57 million followed by three North Carolinians who each won $4 million playing instant games. In all, the Education Lottery paid out an estimated $953 million in prizes, on average about $2.6 million a day. A breakdown of the biggest winners shows:

• Twenty won $1 million or more playing instant games; 11 won playing Powerball; and two won playing Mega Millions.
• Winners live in 22 North Carolina counties with three each from Durham and Forsyth counties and two each from Cabarrus, Guilford, Cleveland, Alamance, Catawba and Mecklenburg counties. One Powerball winner bought her winning ticket in North Carolina, but lives in South Carolina.
• Occupations of big winners included a retired banker, a cashier, a college student, a retired textile worker, a truck driver, a salesman, a homemaker, a bartender, an accountant, and a painter.
• Plans for spending winnings included paying bills, saving for retirement, college funds, charities, churches, taking care of elderly parents, buying new homes and cars, and taking vacations.

“These winners chose to take a chance, got lucky, and won big, and that’s why many North Carolinians enjoy playing the lottery,” said Alice Garland, executive director of the Education Lottery. “We’re glad so many people liked our games last year because their support helped the lottery to again meet its mission to raise money for important needs in education.”

The wins came as the Education Lottery achieved for the sixth year in a row an increase in lottery ticket sales. Sales as of June 30, the end of the fiscal year, were an estimated $1.59 billion, up 9.2 percent.The higher sales also resulted in a new annual record in transfers to education, $456.7 million. Other highlights of the year included:

• Surpassed $7.9 billion in total sales since inception. As of June 30, total sales were $7,965,516,655.
• Exceeded $2.45 billion in total contributions to the state and education in North Carolina since inception.
• Collected $14.4 million in state income taxes from prize winnings and $1 million in debts owed to state and local governments.
• Transferred $1 million to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services for gambling addiction, education and treatment programs.
• Paid $111 million in commissions to retailers.
• Increased base of retailers selling lottery tickets to 6,763 retail locations, up 2 percent from the year before.