U.S. lotto ticket thief gets hefty sentence

Andy Ashkar was sentenced to a hefty 8 1/3 up to 25 years by the Onondaga County prosecutor’s office this week for being in possession of a $5 million lottery ticket that was stolen from his parents convenience store in Syracuse in 2006.

In handing down sentence, the same Judge who convicted Ashkar earlier this year cited his “rapacious greed”.

The lottery said it is “close to determining whether the ticket belongs to Robert Miles”, thought to be the true owner of the winning scratch ticket.

Ashkar’s brother, originally investigated as an accomplice, was cleared of conspiracy charges.

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