RELEASE DATE: 12/5/2013
Sixty-year-old Hilton Cancel and 55-year-old Alicia Cancel of Floral Park Village, Nassau County won a $1,000,000 Mega Millions second prize from the November 12 drawing.
Alicia said she saw the ‘We had a winner’ sign at Tulip Card & Gift Shop on Tulip Avenue in Floral Park where her husband purchased the couple’s Mega Millions tickets. She immediately sent him a text message telling him to check their tickets. Hilton was waiting for his son at the train station at the time and looked up the winning numbers on his phone. Hilton said that he “went into a totally different kind of numb” when he realized they matched the first five numbers and won the $1,000,000 second prize.
Alicia did not believe him initially and told him to come home so they could check the results together. The couple said they barely slept that night and it really only sunk in when they validated the ticket at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center. Hilton said he always thought that he would win a Lottery prize and that day has finally come.
The Cancels have been married for 33 years and have two sons. They are splitting the $1,000,000 prize and will receive a one-time lump sum payment of $330,900 each after required withholdings. The couple is not sure what they will do with their winnings.
About the New York Lottery
The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.04 billion in fiscal year 2012-2013 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents 15 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.
About the New York State Gaming Commission
The New York State Gaming Commission regulates all aspects of gaming and gambling activity in the state, including horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering, class III Indian gaming, video lottery terminal facilities at race tracks, the state lottery and charitable gaming.
Media contact: New York Lottery Communications Office, (518) 388-3415