Hudson Valley Lottery Winners Receive Big Checks

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY -- Four people are Westchester County’s newest Lottery millionaires. The New York Lottery’s Yolanda Vega and Kylie McDonald presented them with ceremonial prize checks at the Empire City Casino in Yonkers.

Here are their stories:

Cortlandt Manor Woman wins Guaranteed $7,000,000 CASH4LIFE Jackpot

Forty-three-year-old Misty Morano of Cortlandt Manor never dreamed that she would hit the Lottery. Morano was visiting her father and decided to stop at the deli on her way home to pick up a few items. While she was in the store she bought a Quick Pick ticket for that night’s CASH4LIFE drawing. Her ticket matched all six numbers drawn on March 19 earning the call center customer service representative the guaranteed $7,000,000 jackpot.

“It’s a lot of money, but I’ll get used to it,” Morano explained. “I got what I needed and said, ‘give me one of those’ as he was ringing me out. That’s all there was to it.

"My father is the Lottery player of the family,” she continued. “He always told me to stop playing because I was wasting my money. I’m glad I didn’t listen to him this time!”

Morano said she checked her numbers in the newspaper the next morning. “I just sat there in awe,” she said after seeing all six winning numbers printed in the paper also printed on her Quick Pick ticket. “I immediately put it in a safety deposit box and started planning for what I was going to do with all this money.”

The winning numbers for the March 19 CASH4LIFE drawing were 3-26-30-51-53 Cash Ball 4.

Morano opted to receive her prize as a one-time lump sum payment. She will receive a net check totaling $4,702,600 after required withholdings.

Morano’s plans include buying a house and taking care of her teen-aged sons and extended family. “We won’t have to struggle anymore. We’ll be able to get ahead in life,” she said.

The winning ticket was purchased at Madaba Deli & Grocery at 694 Saw Mill River Road in Ardsley.

Yonkers Man Wins $5,000,000 Set for Life Scratch-off Prize

Twenty-four-year-old doorman Gabriel Rosado of Yonkers watched a coworker scratching a Set for Life ticket and decided to go out and buy one for himself. Rosado stopped for a ticket on the way home from work and sat in his car as he scratched it, revealing a match on the number 14 with the word LIFE printed below earning him the $5,000,000 jackpot prize.

“The two of us were talking about what we would do if we ever won that kind of money. It made me want to go out and get one of my own,” said Rosado. “I feel both blessed and lucky. Blessed because I put in 16 hours a day six days a week and I think it’s like payback for being a hard worker. I feel lucky because it could have been someone else.”

Rosado decided to split his prize with his close friend, Juan Aldama Mendez, also from Yonkers. Each will receive a net check totaling $1,272,547 after required withholdings.

Rosado plans to use his portion of the prize to multiply his winnings. “I want to be entrepreneur,” he said. As for short-term plans, Rosado said he would like to move out of the home he currently shares with his mom. “I want to buy a condo for me and a new home for my mom,” he said.

The winning ticket was purchased at Mi Favorita Food at 392 East 201st Street in the Bronx.

Elmsford Woman Wins $1,000,000 Mega Millions Second Prize

Forty-eight-year-old Elizabeth Aprile of Elmsford won the $1,000,000 second prize from the April 10 Mega Millions drawing. Aprile said she wouldn’t have known she was a winner if an employee from the store hadn’t told her to check her ticket.

“An employee from the gas station told me that I should check my ticket because they sold a million dollar winner,” explained Aprile. “She made sure to tell me because she knows I let me tickets pile up before I check them!”

The winning numbers for the April 10 Mega Millions drawing were 5-13-31-43-53 Mega Ball 20.

The $1,000,000 Mega Millions second prize is paid out as a one-time lump sum payment. Aprile will receive a net check totaling $671,800 after required withholdings.

“I will use the winnings to help out my children and save for retirement. I’ll also treat myself to an extra trip or two to the spa each year,” said Aprile.

The winning ticket was purchased at the V&D Food & Gas at 24 Marble Avenue in Pleasantville.

The New York Lottery contributed $103,692,197 in Lottery Aid to Education to school districts in Westchester County during fiscal year 2016-17, lottery officials said.