July 11, 2000

A man serving time in a St. George jail may have just become a millionaire. And it was as easy as eating a bag of candy.

News Specialist Sam Penrod tells this surprising tale.

The key here is eating the right bag of candy.

The inmate is in the Purgatory Correctional Facility in St. George. And what appears to be his good fortune started on Friday afternoon.

M&M's are one of America's favorite candies, that "melt in your mouth, not in your hands." It's latest promotion campaign is "The Fix up. The Mix up."

On Friday, 27-year-old Brian McCluskey, who is in jail serving time for a misdemeanor drug conviction, finished his assigned chores at the jail.

And for his work he had earned a small credit at the jail commissary and asked for a package of M&M's.

Kirk Smith/Washington County Sheriff: "HE WAS DELIVERED A PACK OF M&M'S PURELY AT RANDOM AND HE OPENED THEM UP AND FOUND HE WAS APPARENTLY THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER IN THEIR MILLION DOLLAR CONTEST."

McCluskey reportedly found a variety of M&M colors he'd never seen before inside the wrapper. Other inmates then told him they had seen a commercial on tv about a contest with M&M's.

That's when he reportedly looked inside of the wrapper and found the words "grand prize instant winner."

Kirk Smith/Washington County Sheriff: "I THINK HE WAS VERY SURPRISED. HE SHOWED IT TO SEVERAL OF THE OTHER INMATES IN THE CELL BLOCK, AND THEY LOOKED AT IT AND SAID, 'YEAH, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE A WINNER.' AND HE ALSO SHOWED IT TO ONE OF THE DEPUTIES, AND SHE LOOKED AT IT AND SAID, 'YEAH, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE THE WINNER THERE'. IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT I THINK HE DIDN'T BELIEVE POSSIBLY COULD HAPPEN."

That wrapper is now reportedly in a safe place, while plans are made to have it presented to prove it is authentic -- and to find out if it really is THE grand prize winner.

If it is, the contest rules say the winner will be paid $50,000 a year for 20 years!

The inmate is scheduled to be released at the end of the summer. But can he claim his prize?

Probably so.

The contest rules simply say it is open to anyone living in the United States, except those afflilated with the Mars Candy Company.

By the way, the odds of winning this contest are 1 in 380,000,000.