PLAINVIEW, N.Y. – The New York Lottery’s Yolanda Vega presented over-sized prize checks worth $20,000,000 to Long Island’s newest Lottery millionaires. The winners included a pizza cook from Nassau County who won $7,000,000 on the New York Millions scratch-off game, another Nassau County winner who won the $5,000,000 top prize on the Cash X100 game, a Suffolk County winner who is “set for life” with a $5,000,000 win on the Set for Life game, and a salesman from Suffolk County who won the $3,000,000 top prize on the Instant Millionaire game.

Pizza Cook from Freeport Wins $7,000,000 on New York Millions game

Wil Donaldo Villeda, of Freeport, is Nassau County’s first Lottery millionaire of 2016 with a $7,000,000 win on the New York Millions scratch-off game.

On January 2, Villeda was on his lunch break as a pizza cook and went to buy his tickets at a store near the pizza shop. He bought a few scratch-off tickets and won $50. With some of that money, he purchased a $25 New York Millions ticket. Villeda said he chose the New York Millions game because he “played it before, didn’t win, and wanted to try it again.”

Once he was back at work, Villeda scratched off the ticket and saw that the number “7” matched up and underneath it was the figure $7,000,000. “I saw the $7,000,000 jackpot prize and couldn’t believe it. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. So I just put the ticket in my locker at work and finished my shift,” he said. “Later on, I called my girlfriend to tell her the good news, but she didn’t believe me. She thought I was joking, and I told her ‘I’m not lying about this.’”

When Villeda got home, he signed the ticket and put it in a safe place. “Then I called my Mom but she didn’t believe me. Maybe she’ll believe me once I have the money. I couldn’t sleep all night long I was so excited.”

Villeda chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment totaling $4,632,600 after required withholdings.

Villeda’s plans for his winnings are to save money, buy a house at some point in the future, and help his family out. “This is so unreal. I’m still thinking through all of this. I feel very, very blessed. I always prayed for this to happen, but I didn’t think it would,” he said.

Villeda purchased his winning ticket at J & R Discount at 1014 Park Boulevard in Massapequa Park.

Hotel Industry Worker from Bellmore wins $5,000,000 on Cash X100 game

Robert Valdes, a hotel industry worker, has won $5,000,000 on the New York Lottery’s Cash X100 game.

Valdes plays different Lottery scratch-off games all the time. He chose the Cash X100 game because “if you win, you get good payouts.”

On January 27, Valdes went to the store to buy various scratch-off tickets and won $50 on the Set For Life game.  Later that day, he decided to go to the Speedway station at 580 Sunrise Highway in Rockville Centre and buy a few more tickets. 

“I like to reinvest my winnings. I bought the Cash X100 ticket a couple of days in a row and didn’t win.  So I thought I’d try it again and see if my luck would change, and it did,” he said.

Valdes said he went to his car to scratch-off the tickets. “I scratched the tickets and had a $5 and $10 winner, and I just put them on my dashboard. Then I scratched the Cash X100 ticket and

saw that the number “43” matched up and underneath it was the figure $5,000,000. I just kept staring at it. I was in shock.  I really thought it was a misprint.”

Because he didn’t believe it, Valdes drove to another store down the highway and checked the ticket in the ticket scanner. The display read “Big Winner.” He still didn’t believe it and drove to another store to check the ticket with another scanner. The display read “Jackpot,” and that’s when Valdes said he started to believe it really was a $5,000,000 winner.

When he got home, he called his Mother. “I called my Mom, but she didn’t believe me. I told her I was still kind of in shock myself.”

Valdes chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment totaling $3,309,000 after required withholdings.

Vales said his plans for his winnings are to buy a car for himself and his son. “After that, I’m really not sure. I want to take some time to really think about it.  I want to be level-headed about it,” he said.

Suffolk County winner is “set for life” with a $5,000,000 win on the Set for Life game

Jose Pablo Sabillon Doblado, 39, of Brentwood is “set for life” now that he has won a top prize of $5,000,000 on the New York Lottery’s ever popular Set for Life scratch-off game.

Sabillon plays the Set for Life game all the time. “I like this game and the thought of winning a big prize,” he said.

On December 28, Sabillon went to the Speedway store at 1797 Joshuas Path in Central Islip to buy some Lottery tickets. He purchased a $10 Set For Life ticket, a $20 Cash X100 ticket, and a $10 Frosty Cash ticket. When he won $30 on the Cash X100 ticket, he decided to use that money to buy another Set For Life ticket, and that one turned out to be the $5,000,000 winner.

After scratching the jackpot winning ticket in his car, Sabillon started shaking, put his hands up in the air and thanked God. “I always had faith that I would win,” he said.

Sabillon chose to receive his Set for Life prize in annual payments of $260,000 per year. After required withholdings, he will receive a net check totaling $172,068 every year for the rest of his life.

When asked how it feels to be a new Lottery millionaire, Sabillon said, “It feels amazing. I am very, very happy. Now I can make my dreams come true.” Sabillon plans to share his winnings with his family and make sure his children as taken care of for the future.

Salesman from Patchogue wins $3,000,000 on the Instant Millionaire game

Mang Wong, of Patchogue, is $3,000,000 richer after scratching off the jackpot-winning combination on an Instant Millionaire ticket.

Wong, who works in import/export sales, plays the Lottery every day but rarely plays this ticket. “I have no idea why I bought this ticket. I bought a Cashword ticket and then decided to buy one of the Instant Millionaire tickets,” Wong said.

Wong purchased his tickets at the Shell Gas Mart on Route 112 in Patchogue while on his way to work. Once he got on the train, he decided to scratch his tickets. “I looked at the winning ticket twice, and I had no reaction. There were 5,000 people on the train, and I wasn’t 100 percent sure what I had won. So as soon as I could get to a ticket checker, I scanned the ticket. The display said ‘BIG WINNER.’ Then when I got home, my wife and I looked at the ticket together, and I finally realized it was worth $3,000,000.”

Wong chose to receive his Instant Millionaire prize in annual payments of $150,000 per year. After required withholdings, he will receive a net check totaling $99,270 every year for the next 20 years.

Wong’s plans for his prize money include paying off his mortgage and helping his family.

The New York Lottery contributed $133,620,578 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts in Nassau County and $245,728,807 in Suffolk County during fiscal year 2014-15.

About the New York Lottery 

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.11 billion in fiscal year 2014-2015 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents 14 percent of total state education aid to local school districts.

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.