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Woodside Man Who Won $65 million Lotto Prize Buys House in Forest Hills

May 19, 2009 Staff Report

Degli Martinez, who won $65 million after purchasing a ticket at Sunnyside’s “Queens Mini mart” on Queens Boulevard, has just bought his family a home in Forest Hills.

Mr. Martinez, a long-time Woodside resident, worked as a maintenance worker at a Park Avenue apartment building at the time he won big.

In June 2007, he won the New York state Lotto jackpot, the largest single prize in the 30-year history of the state Lotto game. He purchased the ticket at Queens Mini mart but accidentally tossed it in the trash after finding out he’d won the jackpot.

After a series of investigations by the lottery officials, he was able to collect his prize amounting to $21,176,066 after taxes.

Martinez and his wife, Maria Martinez, bought a six-bedroom, 4.5-bath home on Jewel Avenue in Forest Hills for $1.425 million on April 28. The 3,274-square-foot home was built in 1925.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

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Yeah. You make a good point and I will take it out. However, it is public information and it has been reported elsewhere. But I’ll keep your comment in mind in the future…since the address isn’t essential to the story.

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