John Mott, of Dresden, is one of 14 employees from Bath Iron Works who won $3 million in the Maine Lottery’s Mega Millions game in July.
Mott has worked at Bath Iron Works for 38 years, first as a pipe fitter before becoming a maintenance mechanic. Mott said the second shift mechanics crew, which calls itself Harding’s Maintenance Crew, has purchased lottery tickets together for about six years. Originally the group played Powerball, however, it recently made the switch to Mega Millions. Each Friday, each member pays $2 toward the ticket.
When Mott and the rest of the crew showed up to work one Tuesday, their boss told them they were having a mandatory meeting at the end of the shift. Mott said he assumed it was going to be a regular safety meeting.
“He got about halfway through the meeting before saying, ‘to heck with it,’ and dug out the claim forms and told us we won the $3 million lottery,” Mott said. “No one could believe it! We kept asking if he was serious.”
This wasn’t the first time Bath Iron Works employees have won the lottery. In 2008, 32 Bath Iron Works employees won $200,000 from Powerball when they matched five of the six numbers.
This time, each of the 14 workers took home $214,285 before taxes. Mott said he knew exactly how he wanted to spend his prize money. After receiving his portion of the winnings, Mott cleared himself of all of his debt with the exception of his house payments. Mott also said he was in the process of looking for a truck before getting the news.
“After winning and collecting the money, I did go out and buy a truck,” Mott said. “Not a new one, though, a used one.”
According to the Maine Lottery, the group also included Jeremy Holt, of Montville; Brian Swanson, of Georgetown; Daniel Totorella, of Waterville; Christopher Frank, of Bowdoinham; Gregory Corrow, of Lisbon Falls; Albion Wright, of Sabattus; Gregory Frost, of Poland; Michael Stacy, of Woolwich; Stephen Scott, of Tenants Harbor; Terry Wells, of Randolph; Daniel Bisson, of Harpswell; Eric Marquis, of Lisbon Falls; and David LaPlante, of Lewiston.
