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THREE FROM WESTBURY, YAPHANK CELEBRATE THE LUCK O' THE ISLAND
March 13, 2008
Schenectady, NY – The New York Lottery’s Marissa Rodriguez today awarded Lottery prize checks worth at least $6,000,000 to three Long Island instant game players representing Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Nassau County winner Jerry Fusco, 55, of Westbury claimed his $1,000,000 prize on the $500,000,000 Extravaganza game while 56-year-old Frank Mattera of Yaphank, Suffolk County opted to split his $5,000 a week Set for Life prize with his 19-year-old daughter, Katherine. The father - daughter duo is guaranteed to receive a minimum prize payout of $5,000,000.
Fusco is a retired MTA Peace Officer. The Navy vet and “the proud father of one” said he purchased his winning $500,000,000 Extravaganza ticket because no one else seemed to want it.
“The ticket was sitting there behind the counter crinkled with coffee stains on it,’ recalled Fusco. “I decided that I would take it if no one else wanted it and…here we are!”
Fusco said he only recently began buying instant tickets, preferring instead to purchase Lotto and Mega Millions tickets when the jackpots hit triple digits.
“Then I started winning $500 on this instant ticket and $500 on another, and that was kind of fun,” he said.
The die-hard Yankees fan plans to use a portion of his $1,000,000 windfall to see his team play a home game before the stadium closes. He also plans to buy a new hybrid car to save some money at the pump.
Fusco purchased his winning $500,000,000 Extravaganza ticket on February 22, 2008 at the 7-Eleven on Jericho Turnpike in Jericho. He claimed it the following Monday at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Garden City. He will receive his prize paid out as $50,000 a year, less required tax withholdings, for 20 years.
Long Island’s other new Lottery Millionaires, a father – daughter duo from Yaphank, Suffolk County, have very different ideas on how to invest their new fortune.
“One of us wants to retire and the other wants to open her own business,” explained 56-year-old Consumer Electronics Salesman Frank Mattera. “I can always advise her from my new beach house in the Bahamas.”
Mattera and his 19-year-old daughter, Katherine, won the top prize of $5,000 a Week for Life on the Lottery’s Set for Life instant game. The pair is guaranteed to receive a minimum prize payout of $5,000,000.
Katherine Mattera, an assistant at the Cactus Hair Salon in Commack, said she will use a portion of her windfall to open her own hair salon.
“Not just any salon,” she said. “The most successful salon on Long Island.”
The Matteras plan to announce their good fortune to their extended family at an upcoming family reunion to be held in Yaphank over Easter weekend. Both plan to return to their respective jobs.
The Matteras purchased their winning Set for Life ticket at Card Fanatics on Veterans Highway in Hauppaugue on their way to work on February 27, 2008. They claimed it the same day at the Lottery’s Garden City Claim Center.
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