Debbie Egan-Chin/News

 

Walter Carver, 65, is hoping to collect some of his prize money four years after winning the Lottery.

A down-on-his luck Brooklyn vet who hit the Lottery four years ago may finally collect some of his winnings.

Walter Carver, 65, won $10,000 in 2007, but officials took more than half the money because he had once worked a welfare-to-work program.

Carver, who got about $1,000 after taxes, challenged the ruling but was slapped down in state court. A state appeals court has paved the way for the Vietnam veteran to get his winnings back.

"It was a scratch-off game," Carver told the Daily News. "I scratched it off and I was jumping around…then they told me there's a red flag on it."

"I said 'Wait a minute, wait a minute. I was working for my money. I'm not a deadbeat dad. I never signed anything that says they can take my money.' We've been fighting for this money for four years. I still haven't seen it."

Carver, who has a high school education and lives with his brother in Gerritsen Beach, lost his Wall Street clerk job in the early 1990s and was forced into a welfare-to-work program that paid about $150 every two weeks.

In return, he had to shovel snow, sort mail, sweep sidewalks and do other menial tasks.

He got off the program after seven years, worked as a messenger clerk for a couple more and is now surviving on Social Security and living with his 62-year-old brother Russell, who cares for him.

The appeals court decision, made public Monday, suggests Carver wasn't even getting minimum wage and sent the case back to Supreme Court, where it's all but certain Carver will win, his lawyer said.

"I don't see any way he doesn't," lawyer Richard Lamborn said. "He worked for his wages. He's a real patriot who gave so much to his country and he doesn't deserve to be treated like this."

State officials have 30 days to appeal the decision. If they don't, Carver could get his money in a few months, Lamborn said.

Carver, who has lost his teeth but couldn't get the Veteran's Administration to help him get new ones, knows exactly what he'd do with the money.

"I'm going to get new teeth," he said. "But its been a long haul and there's no money yet."