Retired Cape May County couple win giant lottery jackpot

A retired Cape May County couple today claimed a share of last week's $330 million Mega Million jackpot.

John and Sandy Belawsky will get nearly $50 million from the prize, before taxes.

The Belawskys, appearing at a news conference at state Lottery Commission headquarters in Lawrenceville, said they have six children between them aged 21 to 32. They said they've lived in New Jersey all their lives and retired from banking and finance jobs.

John Belawsky, a regular lottery player, described how he came to realize he's rich.

He bought four Mega Million tickets and awoke the day after the drawing to check the newspaper for the winning number. His paper, though, was late, so he nervously waited.

When the paper finally arrived, he checked the number.

"I looked at it and I looked at it," he said. "I really didn't believe it. Then it finally dawned on me it's 330 million dollars."

Sandy Belawsky hadn't yet awoken. John Belawsky said he went to the store, got a printout of the winning number and returned home to wait for his wife to wake up.

He couldn't read, he said, couldn't concentrate on television, couldn't do anything but pace.

Sandy Belawsky said her husband broke the news when she awoke.

"I thought he was fooling because he's done that before," she said.

The Belawskys had one of four winning tickets from last week's $330 million Mega Millions jackpot - the second largest in the game's history.

Opting to take the one time cash option, the Belawskys will receive about $48.6 million before paying a 25 percent federal withholding tax.

John Belawsky bought the ticket at Blitz's Villas Market in the town of Villas.

The other three winning tickets were sold in Maryland, Texas and Virginia.

John Belawsky said he is a disabled Vietnam War veteran with over 20 years experience in auto finance and banking. Sandra Belawsky also worked in banking.