Ten Long Island Lottery Winners Receive Prize Checks Worth More Than $29,000,000

SCHENECTADY, NY (01/26/2012)(readMedia)-- The New York Lottery today introduced Yuliya Lankri of Valley Stream, Nassau County as the latest winner on the Win $1,000,000 A Year For Life scratch-off game. The 37-year-old homemaker is guaranteed to receive a minimum prize of $20,000,000. Lankri was one of 10 Nassau and Suffolk County Lottery players to win or share a Lottery jackpot prize of $1,000,000 or more in recent weeks. Lottery Draw Team Member Gretchen Dizer presented the winners with their ceremonial prize checks at the Lottery's Garden City Customer Service Center where all of the winners claimed their jackpot-winning tickets.

Nassau County Homemaker is Lottery's Top Winner of the Day

Yuliya Lankri, 37, of Valley Stream won the top prize on the Win $1,000,000 A Year For Life scratch-off game. The $30 ticket guarantees a minimum prize of $20,000,000. Lankri received her winning scratch-off ticket as a Hanukah gift from her husband, Gabriel. "I thought it was a joke," said the mother of three. "I am still in disbelief."

Lankri said she had no plans for the money but she was having fun thinking about the possibilities. "I'm sure I'll think of a couple of things to do," she said.

Lankri's husband purchased his wife's winning ticket on December 21 at Dmars Minimart on Jamaica Avenue in Queens Village.

The top prize on the Win A $1,000,000 A Year For Life ticket guarantees that Lankri will receive at least 20 annual payments of $1,000,000 (net $661,800). After her $20,000,000 threshold has been met, Lankri will continue to receive an annual net payment for life.

Massapequa Couple Splits $5,000,000 Set For Life Minimum Prize

Dominick and Diana Morana of Massapequa won at least $5,000,000 on the Set For Life scratch-off game. Dominick Morana, 45, a manager for a Long-Island based moving and storage company, purchased the couple's life-changing ticket on December 23 during a stop on the way home from work at Iqbal's Associates on North Broadway in Massapequa. Dominick Morana said winning the Lottery seems to run in the family.

"My godparents won Mega Millions in 2011," he said. According to Lottery records, the Moranas' relatives, John and Kathy Gillen of Staten Island, won a $72,000,000 jackpot from the Mega Millions drawing held on April 15, 2011. Like their equally lucky relatives, the Moranas plan to split their new fortune with their immediate family. "We'll set up a college fund for our son," said the second generation Lottery winner. "And, I'd like to buy a new Cadillac for me."

The top prize on the Set For Life scratch-off game offers players a guaranteed minimum prize of $5,000,000. As is the case with all "For Life" prizes, the minimum prize will be paid in 20 annual installments. Once the Moranas' $5,000,000 minimum has been reached, the couple will continue to receive an annual check totaling $130,000 (net $86,034) for life.

Retired Couple from Merrick Shares $1,000,000 Golden Opportunity Jackpot

Joseph and Gloria Bianco, originally from Merrick, Nassau County, now living in Palm Bay, Florida, recently claimed a $1,000,000 top prize on the Golden Opportunity scratch-off game. Joseph, 80, credits his win to a vision he had of his deceased father.

"I saw my father in a dream," he said. "I told my son and he reminded me how lucky I was to have had such a 'golden moment.' I went to the store the next day and saw this ticket and knew I had to get one."

The East Meadow-born Bianco retired to Florida 20 years ago following a lifetime spent living and working in construction around Long Island. The young-at-heart member of Local 138 bought his $1,000,000 Golden Opportunity ticket on January 15 at Galleria Stationery on Little East Neck Road in West Babylon while visiting his stepson in Babylon.

Bianco and his wife of more than 50 years, Gloria, opted to split the $1,000,000 top prize that is usually paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years. The Biancos will each receive a 50 percent share of the prize, netting each $16,545 through 2031. As for his plans for the money Bianco said, "I just want to have fun."

Central Islip Corrections Officer Wins At Least $2,000,000 on Money For Life Scratch-Off

Former Rikers Island Corrections Officer Bernett Shaw of Central Islip won a guaranteed $2,000,000 on the Lottery's Money For Life scratch-off game. The 54-year-old Shaw had one word to describe her winning experience. "Shock," she said. "I thought I was being punked." The mother of three and grandmother-to-be said she was used to winning as much as $1,000 on scratch-off games she had purchased in the past. "I'm a lucky person. I actually called it when I bought my ticket," she said. "I told the clerk I had a winner. It wasn't until I went to bed that night and scratched my ticket that I realized how right I was."

Shaw purchased her Money For Life top prize winner ticket on December 20 at K & H Cards & Gifts on Main Street in Islip.

Shaw will receive a minimum of 20 annual payments of $100,000 each (net $66,180). Once she has received the guaranteed $2,000,000 minimum prize, she will continue to receive a net payment of $66,180 for life.

Five From Wantagh Professional Building Split $1,000,000 Powerball Power Play Prize

Caring for children and making some much needed home improvements top the list of plans for five Long Islanders who regularly pool their money to buy Lottery tickets; a tradition that recently earned each a share of a $1,000,000 Powerball Power Play prize from the December 28 drawing. The Lottery pool members all work in a variety of legal and property management companies located within the same office building. Winners to receive a share of the $1,000,000 Power Play prize include:

• Ronelle Devine, 50, of Bohemia;

• Joann Malec, 69, of Deer Park;

• Lillian Katz, 41, of West Islip;

• Lisa DeMase, 54, of Massapequa; and

• Laurie Kentner, 45, of Levittown.

Group spokesperson and ticket buyer Ronelle Devine explained the group's reaction the day after the drawing when she checked the group's winning numbers on the Lottery's website during lunch. "There was a lot of cheering and crying," she said. "Everyone signed the ticket right away." Devine claimed the ticket on the group's behalf later that same day.

Devine purchased the group's ticket at Friendly Cards & Gifts on Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh. The same location sold a winning $1,000,000 Winfall scratch-off ticket in November of 2011. William Storm of Seaford claimed that $1,000,000 prize.

Devine and her fellow pool members will receive their $1,000,000 Powerball Power Play prize as a lump sum with each receiving a one-time payment of $200,000 (net $132,360).

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing over $3 billion in fiscal year 2010-2011 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery's aid represents over 15 percent of total state education funding to local school districts.

Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district's size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.

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