Trashed Mass. lottery ticket a $1M winner

[July 27, 2013]  NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts couple has won $1 million on a scratch-off lottery ticket they dug out of the trash after inadvertently throwing it away.

The state lottery commission says Joseph and Joanne Zagami of North Attleborough bought the $5 ticket from a vending machine while grocery shopping.

They stuck the ticket in a bag and forgot about it.

The next day, Joseph Zagami asked his wife if she had scratched the ticket. She hadn't. They dug through the trash and found it.

The couple claimed their prize Wednesday, opting for the one-time lump sum payment of $650,000 before taxes and $455,000 after. They plan to pay off their mortgage and other bills and take a vacation.

To get the full amount they would have needed to claim the prize over 20 years.

[Associated Press]

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