Officials with the New Jersey Lottery announced Wednesday that a person purported to be a legal representative for the winner of a massive Mega Millions drawing has come forward. Besides being New Jersey's largest single-ticket jackpot, the award is also the fifth-largest lottery jackpot ever awarded in the United States, lottery officials said.

Mega Millions is played in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington state.

Lottery officials said they were trying to verify the ticket's authenticity.

They also announced that the jackpot, originally believed to be worth $250 million, was actually valued at $258 million because ticket sales before the drawing Friday were larger than expected.

On Monday, Michellene Davis, executive director of the New Jersey Lottery, advised the holder to sign the ticket and contact lottery officials.

She said the ticket could be cashed in for a lump sum of $151.3 million or taken in annual installments of $9.6 million for 25 years.

The winning numbers were 5, 16, 41, 46 and 50. The Gold Mega Ball was 1.