Brothers claim $5M lottery prize 6 years later

SYRACUSE -- After holding on to it for six years, two brothers have claimed a $5 million lottery prize for a scratch-off ticket they bought at their parents' Syracuse convenience store, state officials said.

Andy Ashkar, 34, of Camillus, and Nayel Ashkar, 36, of Cicero, came forward March 1, just 11 days before the top prize in the "$500,000,000 Extravaganza" scratch-off game would have expired, New York Lottery said. The agency confirmed the brothers' scratch-off ticket was bought legitimately, lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman said.

Andy Ashkar said he waited so long to claim his prize because he was concerned the windfall could "negatively influence" his life if he didn't plan properly before being publicly introduced as the winner, lottery officials said. He also told the officials that he didn't want the windfall to influence his engagement and subsequent marriage.

The brothers, both managers at auto dealerships, could not be reached Wednesday.

-- AP