SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Nearly seven years after a winning $5 million scratch-off lottery ticket was snatched from his hands, Robert Miles of Syracuse, New York, will finally get his money.
Lottery officials contacted the district attorney's office with the news today, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick. A source in the state lottery office confirmed that the "ticket has been verified" and the money "will be issued to Mr. Miles in the very near future."
The winning ticket, a jackpot "Extravaganza" winner, was sold at The Green Ale Market in 2006. It wasn't until 2012 that two brothers, Nayel and Andy Ashkar, went to a state lottery office to try to redeem the ticket.
The lottery launched an investigation, finding it suspicious that the ticket had been sold at the market the Ashkars' parents owned, and that the brothers had waited so long to try to make their claim.
After the lottery released the news that the Ashkars had the ticket, Robert Miles came forward and said he was the real winner.
He said Andy Ashkar had stolen the ticket from him — first telling him that it was only worth $5,000 and giving him $4,000, keeping a cut for the store. The case went to trial and Andy Ashkar was found guilty of possessing stolen property. He was recently sentenced in Onondaga County Court to the maximum sentence of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.
Miles, a maintenance worker, testified at the trial. He said he let the ticket slip from his hands seven years ago because he had been addicted to crack cocaine and confused by what had happened to him. He thought that without the ticket, it would be the word of a "crackhead" against a store owner, he testified.
Miles filed for bankruptcy in 2008, knowing he should have been a millionaire five times over.
Miles could not be immediately reached for comment. His lawyer, Steve Cambareri said Miles had just found out the news and wasn't ready to talk to the press, but was "elated the lottery prize has finally been awarded to him."
Cambareri added that it had been "a long time coming."
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Well deserved news and on a special day of the 50th anniversary of the March on DC. Justice has prevailed.
Good for him, I hope he has gotten over his crack habit.
Now look at the picture, he has a smile of relief, while his lawyer has a smile of "gotcha"
@ Artist77
thought I would be 1st
Great news. So good to hear that vermin don't profit from their nastiness.
lol I rarely am first...except the first in the office and the first to leave.
Great opportunity to stay clean, and have a wonderful life. Good luck to you, Sir.
Well Said. I love happy endings-.Way to go Miles, look at this as a 2nd lease on life.
WTF ? That's weird. His name is Robert Miles. And I listen to songs by the musician Robert Miles when I visualize winning. That's got to be a sign that I'm on the right track to winning. You have to pay attention to the signs around you.
Interesting !
Any more examples ?
Wow wonder what took so long here
You just have to be aware and pay attention to the signs or warnings that is happening around you no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. And you act upon those signs.
You may get a gut feeling one day out of the blue to suddenly play the lotto. Or you had a dream where you see yourself winning money. Or you may suddenly see a set of odd numbers that appears more than once in your life or through out your day. You found a meassage in a fortune cookie that says something like "Great Fortune Awaits You". These are some of the expereinces that lotto players said they had after the win.
? No one attempted to cash the ticket till 2012. This was actually a rather quick judicial resolution.
That last sentence says it all
Cambareri added that it had been "a long time coming."
Does he means justice for Mr Miles or his payday?
unbelievable
That "Extravaganza" scratch off ticket is $20 ........ where does a crackhead get that kind of money?
Thats not a very nice thing to say...your just mad it wasnt you....I'm glad he won and anybody that does win to these crooked lottery people.
Welp, the lawyer's got a big ol' smile on his face too.
I wonder how much he's gonna take from him now?
Looking good Miles and congrats, your day has come!!!
Thank you New York Lottery for giving this man what he deserved.
well said, NYL did the right thing. Great postive PR.
I Was just wondering how much he will pay his lawyer.as sign of good faith giving him $ 100,000 is a good thing to do.
Looking at the picture Mr. Miles looks like he has cleaned him self up
. Hopefully he surrounds himself with the right people to keep him on the right path wishing you well Mr. Miles.
He actually had a job https://www.lotterypost.com/news/260110
I am extremely happy for this guy, Congratulations Mr. Miles. as stated before you look good and glad you didn't allow your past to determine your present nor future. May Mr. Miles life be full of joy, prosperity, peace, and love.
"We all reap what we sow", so sow wisely!!!
I fully agree. Was a very meanspirited thing to say!!! Congrats Mr. Miles. May you continue to be blessed.....and stay strong!!!
yes, good for him, finally we get to hear the good guy won!
Omg is that MJS (Michael jordons bro lol
The lawyer is getting 1/3 and then IRS taking another chunk and then since scratch tickets are paid out as annuities, then another chunk is slashed. I am curious what the unfortunate guy will end up pocketing.
Maringo:
Not necessarily. I am not aware of any news on the retainer agreement. Non-attorneys have this impression due to the commercials on legal representation for accidents, etc., it is always a third. See the NYSBA rule 1.5 on fees. The state prosecuted Ashkar. This was not a multiteam litigation that went on for months, involving massive discovery, expert witnesses, etc. The lottery officials did most of the background work.
Hopefully his counsel fees did not exceed $ 200,000 to 400,000. I am sure Miles attorney attended the trial when Miles testified, went with him to any meetings pretrial, and did some hand holding but he was not a co-counsel or responsible for litigating the criminal matter. The state litigated.
Right.... $400k for 4 hours work..... Sounds fair.
crack heads are not poor people they just spend their money differently and he has a job and a wife so he is not really a full time crack head if he was he won't even remember he ever bought or scratched anything lol . And beside crack cost more than a scratch off ticket it is like asking how a smoker can afford a cigeret even though the price is up 500 percent
May the Miles family enjoy and safely invest their tidy post-taxed annuity payments!!! Please don't get confused and increase your drugs or quite your jobs though. Cheers!
I just pray that he doesn't relapse and watch his fortune go up in smoke (literally).
Finally his battle is over and now he can claim his prize. It was quite a journey for him, I hope he already had overcome his drug addiction. He need to be wise in handling his money. Better yet he need to seek advice from a financial advisor so he will not end up in bankrupcy again.