Money won't be an issue for five friends from Yonkers anymore.
A decade of buying lottery tickets together paid off big for the group of pals who hit the $106 million jackpot in the multi-state Mega Millions game on Sept. 11.
It was 52-year-old limo driver Edgar Lopez's turn to pick up the tickets so he stopped at Yonkers Grocery and Convenience to grab a Mega Millions quick pick.
The following weekend, he got his friends together to share some big news — they were all millionaires.
"I told them that something good has happened," he said in a statement. "We have worked hard all of our lives and to have this happen is just amazing."
The winners include Lopez and his buddy Manuel Hernandez, 45, who also works as a limo driver in the city. Hernadez's wife, 51-year-old Acela, who works as a housekeeper, and business owner Miguel Acosta got in on the winnings as did Angela Pajes, a New Jersey daycare teacher.
They matched all six numbers — 5, 11, 31, 50, and 67, with Mega Ball number 14 — for the Sept. 11 drawing.
The group opted for a single, lump-sum payout worth roughly $13.1 million each before taxes.
Pajes, the only Jersey resident of the bunch, will take home $8.67 million — about $200,000 more than his friends — thanks to smaller taxes in the Garden State. The other four winners will each get a check for $8.47 million.
nice
Patience is a virtue.....
I love when the underdogs hit the lottery. Seems to be a group of Hispanics in underpaid jobs, except maybe the business owner. Congrats! :)
Congratulations to the long-suffering winners! This is another story of patience and persistence paying off. The winnings will definitely totally fund each of their retirements. Now that is a really great win!
That's Awesome I Hope They Are Life Long Friends And Don't Let Anything Come Between Them
Good for them, glad to see a group that stuck together for so long win it.
Hard to believe the one from Jersey will pay less.
Anyone know the tax rate for NY and Yonkers ?
I thought Jersey would be more @ 10.8 %
Congrats to these tenacious friends who were lottery players, who pursued their dreams and won!
According to USA Mega, NY is 8.82% and Yonkers imposes an additional 1.323%. Lucky they didn't live in NYC, that additional tax is 3.876%. Yikes! Well actually, if I won 13 mil I probably wouldn't complain about high taxes TOO much.
With Federal taxes, they'll end up with approximately half of the cash value, so 6.5 mil or so.
Congrats to the group! May they enjoy their winnings!
I am glad to see that they did not fight that the one with the ticket did not run away with it and that their friendship so far made it this far. I hope that the money never comes between them and they are as happy s they can be now. Congratulations to good friends.
LOL. Ain't that the truth. It's usually one friend who cashes it and absconds and the others have to sue. But they seem like decent folks and their perseverance paid off.
Can't see any reason why the money would come between them since they each get pretty much the same amount. I can see it being an issue with other friends, but not with each other.
Good Hit for the group, congratulations!
Sure makes my heart glad to read a story like this. Congrats. and best wishes to all!
Good for them !
Congratulations
Congrads to all the winners. Glad they weren't from ILL. If so you won a bunch of IOUs. lmbo
Good deal, congratulations to them. I missed by one number last week from being the first person on this board to win a big jackpot on a lottery (I think), but I am still determined to do so. Was going to give Todd an interview and everything
Yes !!
I hope one thing for them (besides happiness): I hope that, should they have played with other people over the years, they've documented that they, and ONLY they, were in the group this time around. We've seen so many lawsuits where people claim "I was part of that group for this drawing, and now they don't want to pay me"...
"Pajes, the only Jersey resident of the bunch, will take home $8.67 million — about $200,000 more than his friends — thanks to smaller taxes in the Garden State."
That might be true for the initial check, but he'll lose out when he files his NJ return. The Yonkers tax is 16.75% of the NY state tax, so the maximum NY rate of 8.82% becomes a hair under 10.3% for residents of Yonkers. New Jersey's maximum rate for most income is 8.97%, but for lottery winnings it's 10.8%. There will be some minor variation based on what the other tax brackets are and their personal details, but in the end Pajes will pay perhaps 60k more.
Just so happy that no one is sueing anybody over this..Lotto groups always seen to be sueing one another..I never liked being in a lottery pool because of that.
Congratulations on this great win and great friendships. It is so refreshing to have a positive, upbeat story about lottery winners for a change.
Congrats to all the lucky winners, nice to see so many get the prize.
Patient persistence--play 'til you win.
Congratulations to them :)
Thanks,
I suspected as much, no one gets ahead of Jersey when it comes to taxes.
Congrats to the winners.My wife an her co workers play together,hope that luck comes this way.
Can,t win if u don,t play.
Thanks,
But that same chart shows Jersey W/3 % so I thought there must be more...devil in the details !
So a NYC res. would pay about 12.7% YIKES ! Makes Jersey look good, and that ain't easy.
Everything there costs a fortune, someone I know there pays $3800 a month for a 600 sq. ft apt.
Congrats to the winners
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I feel the same way, congrats to them.
It also gives me hope since I've been running a lottery pool in my office for over 10 years too. It started with just 2 of us and it grew to 13 members at one point and is currently at 11. Maybe we'll be the ones to hit next. We've been at it a long time, so why not?
l hope your ship comes in any day Now PrisonerSix.
Me too. We did win $2 on MegaMillions this weekend, which will go to future additional tickets. We just keep trying.