A man convicted of possessing another man's winning USD 5 million lottery ticket has been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.
The prosecutor's office says Andy Ashkar, who is of Palestinian descent, was sentenced today morning to 8 1/3 to 25 years for having the ticket that was stolen at his parents' convenience store in Syracuse in October 2006.
The same judge who convicted Ashkar in May of criminal possession of stolen property handed down the sentence, citing his "rapacious greed."
Prosecutors say Ashkar had stolen the winning scratch-off ticket from the real winner, Robert Miles. Lottery officials say they're close to determining whether the ticket belongs to Miles.
Ashkar's brother was cleared of conspiracy charges.
