Lottery lightning strikes LI family twice

Who says lightning doesn't strike twice?

Two years after her brother won the state's first "Win $1 million a Year for Life" game, one-time Massapequa resident Cindy Altunis also hit a jackpot.

Lottery officials introduced Altunis and two Long Island winners Wednesday during a news conference at Madison Square Garden. The three were joined by four other recent winners.

Officials said Altunis, 32, who was born in Turkey and now lives in Manhattan, bought a scratch-off ticket, winning $1 million in the $500 million Extravaganza game at the same East Norwich service station where her brother scored big.

In October 2008, Altunis' older brother, Kenan, won a "Win $1 million a Year for Life" ticket while visiting his mother in Oyster Bay. Cindy Altunis said the circumstances leading to her win were similar.

When she scratched off the ticket to reveal her prize, Altunis said she thought: "It can't be. No one could be this lucky." And, she added, "We are very thankful for being so fortunate."

Her plans for the prize are modest: Shopping for handbags and shoes, and some international travel, she said.

Lottery officials said Altunis will receive annual payments of $50,000 for the next 20 years - a net amount of $33,015 a year through 2029.

Her brother, 35, a British citizen, was already a millionaire banker living in London, officials said. He receives annual payments of $931,500 and is guaranteed a total of $20 million.

Also at yesterday's presentation was Michael Artan, 20, of Plainview, a part-time certified nursing assistant at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, who won a $5 million prize in the state's Set for Life game. He said he plans to split it with an uncle in Queens.

And Sound Beach contractor Robert Johnson, 51, won $1 million on an Extravaganza ticket one day after Altunis. Johnson said he was unfazed by his big win. "I felt the same way I felt every day. It's just hitting me now," he said. "I'm still going to play every day. It's something to do when I'm sitting in my car waiting to get on the job."